Jeanna Holtz
“Who knew they played petanque in Edmonds?” So says Jeanna Holtz.
Born in Seattle, Jeanna grew up in Edmonds and attended Edmonds Junior High School when it was located at 4th and Daley near the Civic Center Playfield, which is now home of the Edmonds Center for the Arts. Jeanna later attended Woodway High School, Edmonds, WA.
At age 17 free-spirited Jeanna flew away, attended college and began to live and work around the world. Jeanna began her career working in health insurance in the US, and later Munich, Germany, with the global financial services provider, Allianz.
In 2008, she joined the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency in Geneva, Switzerland. There, she set up a program funded by the Gates Foundation to help protect low-income households in developing countries from the risks of illness, natural disasters, and death. In her next assignment, Jeanna worked with international development aid programs to provide health care to people in need in Africa and Asia.
While living thirteen years in Europe, Jeanna discovered people playing petanque in the neighborhoods of Germany and France. After being away for many years, she returned to Edmonds in 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She and friend, Wendy Chaffee, with whom she had worked years earlier at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, decided to join the EPC. Little did they know that Joan Poor, whom they were to meet playing petanque in Edmonds, had also worked for Fred Hutch at the same time.
The Civic Field restoration began concurrently and shifted play for nearly two years to Northgate, Sierra Park, Innis Arden and downtown Seattle. Jeanna and fellow EPC members learned to embrace the challenge of temporary sites and were grateful when the new petanque grove opened in June 2023.
Last year Jeanna retired. She loves being back home in Edmonds. Petanque is one reason for this! There are many aspects of “the game” that Jeanna adores, including the camaraderie, competition, gentle exercise and fresh air that it offers. It’s no wonder she especially likes the game’s element of surprise. Now she gets the chance to win (or lose!), and to play with a bunch of fun folks at our new and improved Civic Center Playfield.
Jeanna was honored to represent EPC in the second annual Cross Sound Tournament this year in Port Townsend and to be part of a team that ALMOST brought home that unique trophy. She was instrumental in getting the team shirts for all the EPC Cross Sound players. Thank you, Jeanna!
She is proud to be a member of EPC’s board, currently serving as the club’s secretary. She says, “It’s gratifying to see the eagerness of EPC members to help others learn and improve their game in a fun and supportive setting. Folks pitch in to organize tournaments, clinics, and other activities, and take care of the many things needed to make EPC the thriving club that it is today.” She looks forward to improving her game while being part of the EPC for years to come.
Tom Delaney
Tom Delaney of Irish heritage was born in Washington State. His tie to Edmonds stems from early on when his family lived four miles from Perrinville, on the RFD (rural free delivery) route. What fun to romp around on twelve acres that included a barn, a horse, and 42 cherry trees. The Delaney family raised one steer, pigs, and rabbits galore. Tom’s dad commuted to Bremerton where he worked at the Naval Shipyard. Mr. Delaney was employed recruiting engineers for their nuclear program.
By the time Tom was a teenager the family had moved to Portland, Oregon, where Tom attended high school. At Gonzaga University in Spokane Tom earned an English Lit degree and at the U of W a master’s degree in psychology. He worked for over thirty years as a school psychologist. Later he worked in trauma and suicide prevention.
After retiring Tom devoted volunteer time to the American Red Cross where he got involved with disaster relief, working with folks recovering from tragedies such as the train wreck in Tacoma, and the (Ride the) Duck accident on the Aurora Bridge. Tom was involved in trauma prevention, family services, and offering help to those suffering from the aftermath of such tragedies. He also trained others in Psychological First Aid.
Tom is a family guy. He met his lovely wife Genny at Gonzaga. They have been married for 53 years and live in Richmond Beach. Tom and Genny have an adult son, who is an attorney and businessman and is married with a daughter, Cecilia. Tom’s son and his family are living in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Each spring Tom and Genny travel to Brazil to enjoy family during the late summer in the southern hemisphere. They love the climate of the Sao Paulo plateau.
Their daughter and son-in-law and two granddaughters, six-year-old Grace and eight-year-old Delaney, live in the Los Angeles area. Thanksgiving is a great time of year to fly to southern California to spend time with the grandkids. Family is a large part of the Delaney heritage.
The spelling of Delaney does not translate well on a keyboard, especially when it comes to the Gaelic Duvslaney, the name of the river that flows into the Atlantic from Wexford, Ireland, where Tom’s forefathers lived. Tom wrote “Slaney River” for me which is a more modern name of the river.
Tom’s great-grandparents emigrated in the 1840s, from Wexford, Ireland, to Galveston, Texas, via the military post on Governor’s Island, New York. Tom’s great-grandfather was a sergeant, and his wife ran the camp laundry in a military expedition in 1856 that first traveled on a ship from NY to TX, then by horseback via the Chisholm Trail. By 1862 they arrived in San Juan Island (WA). Following the family’s adventures from the old country to the new, for Tom, is a satisfying way to learn about family and how the Delaneys contributed to the founding of this part of North America.
Coolheaded Tom brings his gift and love of playing the game to the petanque courts. While in Europe he noticed petanque being played in France, and later he became more interested when he met Michelle Martin at the Innis Arden Pétanque courts. In the last few years Tom has become an accomplished player. Because of his usual spring fling to Brazil, he doesn’t get to play our local March-to-June League. However, ask him to sub, and he’s up for the challenge and has done well in those partnerships. Tom loves interacting on several levels with the EPC folk – their positive nature, international diversity, and social networking.