Gregory John Holbrock (June 21, 1906 – September 4, 1992) was an attorney,

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and one-term member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

from 1941 to 1943.

Early life and education

Holbrock was born in

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States. Located north of Cincinnati, Hamilton is the second largest city in the Greater Cincinnati area and the 10th largest city in Ohio. The population was 63,399 at th ...

, the son of George H. and Clara C. (Beck) Holbrock. His father was a

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

by trade who became a successful

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

and partner with his younger brother William G. Holbrock in the Holbrock Brothers Dry Goods store in Hamilton and a branch, Middletown Dry Goods, in

Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city located in Butler and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, about 35 miles (47 km) north of Cincinnati. The population as of the 2020 census was 50,987. It is part of the Cincinnati metropo ...

. Greg Holbrock attended St. Stephen's

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

, graduated from St. Xavier High School and attended

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campus ...

. He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

in 1928 and his J.D. from the

University of Cincinnati College of Law The University of Cincinnati College of Law was founded in 1833 as the Cincinnati Law School. It is the fourth oldest continuously running law school in the United States — after Harvard, the University of Virginia, and Yale — and the first in ...

in 1932. Greg Holbrock began the private practice of law in Hamilton. He met Bernice A. Heringer (1909–2005) at Xavier University and on June 1, 1938, they married; they had five children.

Political career

Holbrock was elected from Ohio's third district as a moderate

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Seventy-seventh Congress and served one term. He supported $7 billion in aid to Britain,

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

, and the 1941 amendment to the Neutrality Act to remove restrictions that forbade U.S. vessels from entering combat zones and US citizens from sailing on vessels of belligerents. In 1942, although favored to retain his seat, he was defeated for re-election.

World War II

Following his congressional service, he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

from 1943 to 1946.

Later career and death

After the war, Holbrock returned to the private practice of law, but remained very active in Democratic politics and was a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

s in 1948 and 1960. He became chairman of the Butler County Democratic Executive Committee in 1950 and served sixteen years in that capacity until 1966.

Death

Greg John Holbrock died in 1992, aged 86, in

. He was interred there with his wife Bernice in St. Stephen's Mausoleum.

References

* Hover, Barnes, Jones, Conover, Wright, Leiter, Bradfords, Culkins, eds. Memoirs of the Miami Valley, 3 vols, Chicago: Robert O. Law Company, 1919. * "Ohio", ''The New York Times'', Nov 1, 1942, pg. 46 {{DEFAULTSORT:Holbrock, Greg J. 1906 births 1992 deaths Politicians from Hamilton, Ohio University of Notre Dame alumni Xavier University alumni University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy sailors Ohio lawyers St. Xavier High School (Ohio) alumni Butler County, Ohio 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians Catholics from Ohio Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio