Mark Phillip Holcomb

“Man of Seascape” • 1952 ~ 2020

Mark Phillip Holcomb, 68, passed away on Nov. 16, at his home in La Selva Beach. He was a devoted family man, a successful business entrepreneur, a sports fanatic, dealmaker, and an avid supporter of the Aptos community.

Mark, known affectionately as “Big Cat” by those who knew him well, was born on May 4, 1952, in Merced, to Lois and Charles Holcomb.

He was active from the start and walked by 10 months; this desire to “get moving” would stay with him for the rest of his life. He spent his youth involved in school and sports activities of all kinds. At an early age, his family moved to Napa, where his younger brother Grant was born, and later to Orinda, where Mark played football, baseball, and basketball at Miramonte High School. He graduated in the Class of 1970. After graduation, the Holcomb family moved to Aptos.

Mark obtained his real estate license at the age of 18, and his real estate broker’s license at 21, becoming the youngest real estate broker in Santa Cruz County. He attended college at Cal Poly and then San Diego State University, where in 1975 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business economics and a minor in real estate. It was there that he met the love of his life, Kay Gill. Mark and Kay were married in Incline Village, Nevada, on Aug. 7, 1976.

After their marriage, Mark and Kay moved to Aptos and started a family. Mark soon joined his father in the family real estate, construction, and development business. Their office later moved to Seascape where The Holcomb Corporation went on to make a deep impact on the area, developing such projects as The Seascape Village Shopping Center, Palapas Restaurant, Seascape Resort, Seascape Ridge, Racquet Landing, and The Seascape Uplands, as well as many other single and multi-family projects within Santa Cruz County.

Mark dreamed of creating spaces where generations of families could come together and share memories, and he was able to bring this dream to life through his mastery of creative financing, development management, and as Mark himself would say, “perseverance.” Mark and his father, Charles, an architect, built and developed much of the Seascape area in Santa Cruz County, and Mark’s wife Kay staged interiors. They were a phenomenal team, working together for more than 40 years.

Mark was recognized with numerous awards for his achievements and contributions. In 1994, he received the “Best of the West, Gold Nugget Award” from the Pacific Builders Conference for Best Specialty Hotel/Resort Property for the Seascape Resort and Conference Center. The Aptos Chamber of Commerce awarded The Holcomb Corporation “Business of the Year” in 1995, and Mark was awarded “Man of the Year” in 2006. In 2019, Mark received an honorary membership into the Aptos Sports Foundation Hall of Fame, and an honorary Aptos High School diploma, for his contributions to the local Aptos community and local school athletic programs.

Mark loved his family and friends; Willie Mays and the San Francisco Giants; family trips to Mexico, Palm Springs, and Lake Tahoe; and sports of all kinds. For more than 30 years, he proudly hosted the annual Anchovy Open golf tournament at the Seascape Golf Club, raising money for the Santa Cruz Special Olympics and other charities.

His long-time college friends came annually to play in the tournament, and the event always made his year. Recently, Mark further followed his love of golf and acquired partial ownership in the Seascape Golf Club, where he was a former Men’s Club president.

Mark was preceded in death by his father, Charles Holcomb, and brother, Grant Holcomb.

Mark is survived by his wife of 44 years, Kay Gill Holcomb, his mother Lois Holcomb of Aptos, his daughters Kyla Holcomb Piramoon of Soquel, and Keri Holcomb Hope of Santa Barbara, his grandchildren Tessa Hope, Nicolas Piramoon, Camila Piramoon, and Carolina Piramoon, and many nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to extend their deepest appreciation to the entire Santa Cruz community for its outpouring of love, support, condolences and well wishes. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations may be made in Mark’s honor to the Aptos Sports Foundation at www.aptossportsfoundation.com/donate or The Dominican Hospital Foundation at www.supportdominican.org/donate.

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A memorial “tribute room to Mark” will be set up at Seascape Resort from Nov. 28-Dec. 31, 2020. Please stop by to pay tribute to and celebrate Mark’s life. Reservations may be made online at markholcomb.getomnify.com.

Read more about Mark Holcomb: tpgonlinedaily.com/memories-of-mark-holcomb/