Paul Alexander Holmquist, BHS 1960

Paul Alexander Holmquist, BHS 1960
July 22, 1942-February 5, 2020

Paul Holmquist passed away February 5, 2020, after a decline in health following the death of his wife, Bette Isis Baker Holmquist, on June 20, 2019. The two had been married for 29 years.

Paul graduated from Burbank High School in 1960. Deciding he didn't want to become a career "grease monkey" (he spent his teenage years working at his father's Texaco gas/service station in North Hollywood), he enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College, taking courses in engineering and art. He then transferred to Art Center College of Design, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communication arts/graphic design in 1968.

Paul worked at various graphic design firms throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including Laurence Deutsch Design in Hollywood, where he was part of the team to design the first typographic logo for Toyota and the Honda Power Equipment logo. He joined Walt Disney Imagineering in the early 1990s following his marriage to Bette, a Disney animation artist (Lion King, Little Mermaid, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast) and horsewoman, who rode her beloved Andalusian horse, Afamado II, in multiple Rose Parades and dressage events. While at Imagineering, Paul designed large- and small-scale signage for Disney's theme parks, stained glass windows (Euro Disney train station and the Burbank Animation building parking structure), and (due to his talent as an engineer and mechanic) ride cars, park sculptures, and the Disneyland Toontown population counter.

Paul retired from Disney in 2009, moving with Bette and their horse to the Sierra foothills south of Yosemite. He kept busy by supporting the local Kiwanis Club with graphic design expertise, tinkering with his vintage car collection, designing a children's reading room for the town library, and successfully convincing the annual local car show to allow foreign car entries.

Paul is survived by his son Paul (BHS 1985; wife Linda Swanson) and daughter Kari (BHS 1986, partner David Wallace) from his previous marriage to Susan Bush (BHS 1964, now of Paris, France), granddaughter Chloe, sisters Karin Kane and Elsa LaBaw, brother-in-law Pete Baker (wife Cathy), and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends, all of whom miss his kind spirit, love of puns, and endless knowledge of and enthusiasm for how things work. 

Paul and Bette

Submitted by his daughter Kari