A Retirement Resources Blog for Seniors and Retirees – HOME

The Honorable Judge Al Holte retired at Wesley Homes.

Wesley Homes resident Al Holte is a retired Washington State Superior Court Judge.  He practiced law in Washington for 50 years.  He is also the former CEO of Pioneer Savings and Loan which merged with Washington Mutual Bank.  In 1981 Holte was the Executive Director of the Methodist Foundation of the Northwest. 

For seven years, Holte served as a Washington State Superior Court Judge.  “I’m a retired judge, a retired bank executive, a retired lawyer and retired military,” said Holte,” I retired as Captain in the infantry at the ripe old age of 25 due to being injured in the Philippines in 1945.” 

Due to Holte’s diligence he retired with a sizeable estate to benefit his children and five charities.  Three of the charities are universities or colleges of higher education, and two are Methodist affiliated.  “They each get 2%.  One tenth of my estate is going to go to those charities,” said Holte.

Beyond his estate, Holte donates to several causes – but all that may have to change.

Even as the recession ransacked the financial portfolios of many retirees, Holte, now 89 years old, adjusted his strategy to weather the financial crises.  “I just lost a lot of money on the Washington Mutual stock I had.  It went from about $40 a share down to about 3 cents,” said Holte, “My nest egg was decimated”. 

We are still okay,” said Holte, “I’m getting my retirement from the military and social security and I’ve got a few little investments that pay me enough that we get along.” 

The big losers are the charities Holte has supported.  “I realized I wasn’t going to be able to leave the big estate I once had because not only was the Washington Mutual stock gone but 50% of my equities,” said Holte.

The equities, he explained, are an unrealized loss.  “And until now I had planned not to dispose of any of them, hoping the equity would come back for my kids and for the five charities that are in my will,” he said.

Holte is now girding himself for further losses to his estate as he makes the necessary decisions to help his wife, Lillian, who now requires custodial care. 

It’s the type of health challenge that many seniors are facing at a time when their savings, reduced by the recession, no longer provides the cushion they once counted on. 

For five years Holte has been the sole caregiver for Lillian who is living with Alzheimer’s.  She now requires more care than he can provide and he has moved her into the Wesley Homes Health Center. 

Holte has 14 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.”

This entry was posted on Monday, August 17th, 2009 at 9:44 am and is filed under General Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.