Friend ‘til the end
Anthem Holman, left, and owner Joe Holman sit together for a photo. Anthem was Joe’s service dog since March 2012. Anthem could often be found at the Negaunee Public Library during summer reading, at Northern Michigan University hockey games cleaning up popcorn or at North Star Montessori Academy making friends. Anthem passed away on Saturday after a brief illness. (Photo courtesy by Holman family)
Anthem and Joe Holman sit with one of the many children during the Negaunee Public Library summer reading program. Anthem was described as a service dog to Joe but a therapy dog to everyone else. (Photo courtesy by Jessica Holman)
Anthem Holman, left, and owner Joe Holman sit together for a photo. Anthem was Joe’s service dog since March 2012. Anthem could often be found at the Negaunee Public Library during summer reading, at Northern Michigan University hockey games cleaning up popcorn or at North Star Montessori Academy making friends. Anthem passed away on Saturday after a brief illness. (Photo courtesy by Holman family)
Anthem and Joe Holman sit with one of the many children during the Negaunee Public Library summer reading program. Anthem was described as a service dog to Joe but a therapy dog to everyone else. (Photo courtesy by Jessica Holman)
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NEGAUNEE -- A beloved service dog, friend and family member has crossed the rainbow bridge.
13-year-old Anthem Holman, of Negaunee, passed away at home after a brief illness on Saturday. He was born on Aug. 26, 2012, in Iowa and raised by Tammi and Tessa DeJong to be a service dog for Paws and Effect.
"All of his litter went to military veterans and active service members that could benefit from having a service dog," Jessica Holman, human sister to Anthem and librarian at Negaunee Public Library, said.
She said while Anthem was still in training, he found her father, Joe Holman, and became inseparable.
"Before my dad and Anthem were paired, my dad had been at an event, and his motion disorder made it so that he would typically sit on the floor because he would be twitching so badly," Jessica Holman said. "Anthem was 10 or 11 months old at the time there with another service dog and he narrowed in on my dad and just flopped down on his lap and calmed my dad down so he wasn't having his tremors anymore."
Joe Holman suffered a carotid dissection, tearing of the lining in the carotid artery, while in the military, according to Jessica Holman, which led to getting a service dog to help with his motion disorder.
"He needs to keep his blood pressure lower so that he doesn't have an aneurysm," Jessica Holman said. "And so that was a huge factor in getting Anthem because that dog was great for helping not just my dad, but anyone that was having an upsetting time calm down and lower their blood pressure."
After signing up to get a service dog, Joe Holman was contacted by Paws and Effect prior to the training for the dogs and their owners.
"The organization contacted him and said, 'We feel like you and Anthem already have a connection and would be good for each other, so come down a little aearly and we'll make sure that you two are the right ones for each other,' and yes, they were," Jessica Holman said.
But Anthem didn't just help Joe Holman. Through reading programs, Anthem helped many children find their confidence in reading skills.
"Anthem was pretty popular. He also helped my dad tutor a little boy who was struggling a bit with reading. We had a tutoring program this summer as part of summer reading and the little boy was very shy and uncertain about tutoring, but since he got paired with Anthem it made everything better."
Outside his time at the Negaunee Public Library, Anthem helped Joe Holman substitute teach at schools, most notably North Star Montessori Academy.
"Anthem was a huge help in that (substitute teaching)," Jessica Holman said. "He would walk into a classroom and go 'That student is having a really bad day,' or 'He or She is really going through something,' and he would go right over to that student and love them."
She said when Anthem was alive he "won so many hearts and minds."
"It's going to be hard not seeing him around the community," Jessica Holman said. "People might not even recognize my dad without the dog."
Anthem enjoyed eating apples, bananas, carrots and popcorn at Northern Michigan University hockey games. He was a patron of the theater performances and according to his obituary, "his thumping tail was either a delight or an annoyance to those around him."
"Anthem was a creative problem solver who saved my life multiple times in several different ways," Joe Holman wrote. "He was incredibly empathetic and read people wonderfully well; diffusing situations and being a therapy dog to any who needed it. More people will mourn his passing than they will mine."