Basketball
John Houlihan was raised in Woodside, New York and attended St. Joseph’s Elementary School in Astoria and went on to attend McClancy High School. While at McClancy, John played basketball all four years and started on the varsity team for three of them. Some highlights of his years at McClancy were leading his team to wins over such teams as Molloy and Holy Cross. He also earned numerous awards such as student athlete, Most Valuable Player, All-City First-Team, C.H.S.A.A. All Division, Tablet 1st Team, and the Daily News 1st Team.
After graduating from McClancy, John went on to attend Creighton University in Omaha, Nebrasksa on an athletic scholarship. He graduated in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in English and then attended Creighton Law School.
After graduating with a degree in law, John decided to make home in Omaha, where he practiced law for eight years. John and his wife have been blesses with seven wonderful children: Alison, Laura, John III, Brad, Brian, Elizabeth, and Kelly.
After exercising his options in law, he was presented with the opportunity to enter a new venture. He purchased Zalkin Incorporated, an international company that specializes in recycling clothing and reselling it to over 30 countries. Zalkin is currently grading 50 million pounds of clothing per year which keeps John traveling all over the world visiting customers and closing deals.