Man's Servitude Started at Lincoln Park Church

Courtesy photo

Paul Holsinger as he looked in his Army days.

By Russell Mahakian

The garden in front of Paul Holsinger's home, on a quiet block in the Outer Richmond, is lush with flowers.

"I have had a cold over the past couple of weeks, so the yard is looking rough around the edges," Holsinger said, pointing at an immaculate yard.

Few people have been as involved with the Richmond community as long as Holsinger has. Upon moving to the Richmond District in the late '50s, he has been a fixture at the Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church, where he has worked with three different Boy Scout troops in the Richmond District over the last 45 years of his remarkable 58 years of service for the Boy Scouts. Holsinger can often be seen shuffling to and from the church, often carrying flowers to give away to his friends and fellow volunteers.

Holsinger and his wife Janet have watched what used to be a "decorative little plant" in their backyard grow into a towering redwood during their time in the Richmond. Holsinger does not often elaborate on his involvement with the community, it is just a part of who he is. 

Holsinger is a member of "the greatest generation," who lived through the Great Depression and World War II. By the time Holsinger ended up in San Francisco at the age of 37, he already had a lifetime full of stories and experiences. 

He was born in Moorcroft, Wyoming during the early '20s, where his family had been homesteading since the early 1900s. The same month Holsinger was born, his father was ordained a Presbyterian minister and the family moved to Arapaho, Wyoming, where they ran a church for the Cheyenne and Arapahoe people. Holsinger and his brothers grew up in rough housing with Native American kids, who towered over them on their horses and often chased them through the rural Wyoming countryside.

Growing up in a family with five brothers and three sisters instilled a deep sense of responsibility and commitment to family. The life of a minister at this time required a lot of moving, causing the family to relocate several times and attend different churches each Sunday. The family moved to Gillette, Wyoming during Holsinger's high school years and then, after graduation, they moved to Toyok, a small town near Cortez, Colorado, where his father ran a small church in the mountains for the Yutes.

"Volunteering and service were a part of everyday life," Holsinger said. "It was something you just did."

Certificates commemorating Holsinger's service during World War II hang on the walls of his home, but the veteran does not often speak about the war. He joined the service in the early '40s and trained as a surgical and dental assistant in the Army before being shipped off to the Philippines in 1944 with the 96th Mobile Surgical Unit, where he took part in the Battle of Leyte.  After the Leyte campaign, his unit was shipped off to battle for Okinawa.

Holsinger stormed the beaches of the island on the first day of fighting, before any battle lines were established, and worked to set up a mobile surgical station, where his unit performed more than 800 surgeries in three days. During the battle his regiment lived underground, surviving a Kamikaze attack and fierce fighting.

His next station was in Korea, where he lived in a old Pullman rail car in the middle of rural Korea, overseeing Japanese troop withdrawals from the region. At the end of the war, he returned to America after receiving two Battle Stars.

Although Holsinger had been away for three-and-a-half years, he hit the ground running when he returned to his father's new home in Blue Lake, California, where he helped lead a Boy Scout trip on his first weekend back.  

Holsinger ended up in the Richmond District in the late '50s, when his father was assigned to duty at the Lincoln Park Church. He and his father planned the first church singles night at Lincoln Park, an event where he got to sit across from what appeared to be a nice woman, named Janet. The couple got to talking and two short years later, Holsinger's father married the duo at the Lincoln Park Church.  

Holsinger earned a living working at the Children's Hospital and French Hospital as a surgical assistant. But, what he enjoyed most was being involved with his family and community. Holsinger became a church elder at Lincoln Park in the early '60s and has been ushering since. 

Holsinger's involvement in Richmond District Boy Scout troops started with his step-son's Cub Scout Pack 111 and then with Troop 111. Janet tells a story about the couple's rushing home from their honeymoon so they could go to a scout dinner.

Holsinger continued volunteering with the Boy Scouts well after his sons left scouting and worked with Troop 39, a group he helped establish at the Lincoln Park Church. After the merging the three Richmond District troops three years ago, Holsinger became the new troop's chaplain.  

Certificates of appreciation line the walls of the Holsinger's dining room, but Holsinger says his involvement in the community has never been about receiving gratitude.

"Volunteering and helping people makes your life better. It keeps you going," he said.