Originally from Pahiatua, near Palmerston North, Holtham had lived in Queenstown for about five years, originally working at 1876.
He had planned to leave for Australia in early 2020, but got as far as his parents’ place when the first Covid lockdown began.
Then-Harry’s Pool Bar manager Sammy Marquez persuaded him to come back to work for her, putting him through his duty manager’s licence before he became her 2IC — a role he stayed in for three years.
“He was the best 2IC,” she says.
“When I couldn’t be strong, he was strong, he had such a beautiful spirit, he was great.
“He was so funny, always cheerful.”
Emma Thorpe, who flatted with Holtham, on and off, says “he was the kind of person you’d walk to Harry’s with and it would take you a long time ‘cos he’d say ‘hi’ to everyone, and ‘how are you doing, what’s up?’”
He also loved sport, which is how he bonded with Marquez’s partner, Lochie Kennedy.
“We got along over the basketball a lot, and he was a big NBA fan, Memphis Grizzlies, to be exact, and we did NBA fantasy league together,” he says.
When these and other friends first heard about Holtham’s accident, they were “quite hopeful” he’d pull through, and initially organised a Givealittle page to help his recovery and support his family to come over and see him.
Thorpe: “We just wanted to do as much as we could, because we love him so much.”
She’d just started work on March 8 when she took a phone call saying, “get home, get your friends together”, and “then we had the phone call that kind of changed it all.”
Aside from the Givealittle page, which has raised more than $41,000 to date, Holtham’s friends also organised, at short notice, a fundraiser at Harry’s earlier this month.
That raised an extra $13,000 from donations and — thanks to businesses donating prizes — raffles and silent auctions.
Thorpe says the fundraiser’s success shows how loved Holtham was, and how the community gets together in a time of need.
His younger sister, Bailey Holtham, says of the fundraising, “it’s absolutely crazy and just so amazing, I’m lost for words, really”.
It was typical of him he should donate his organs, she says.
“He just wanted to help people and was the kindest soul you could ever meet, really.
“He was just such a social guy, and anyone he met he just wanted to be friends with them, and he treated them like a family.”
Holtham says her brother’s body has under gone aquamation in Australia — an eco-friendly alternative to cremation.
A Queenstown memorial service to celebrate Holtham’s life will be held tomorrow, 1pm, at Lake Alta on the Remarkables.
