She was born to Harry and Anna (Klochenga) Ward on June 11, 1943 in Peoria IL. They preceded her in death.
She married the love of her life Eugene Holford on June 11, 1960. He preceded her in death on August 9, 2013.
In 1997 Caroline became the town Rat Lady, who fought city hall on her own, because a small young boy was afraid to sleep in his bedroom. Along with a few councilmen she stood her ground, she took the issue to the media and never looked back.
2000 she was asked to serve on the Heartland Clinic Board. She was the first patient to serve on this board, she served until 2011. She also served on the Housing and Property Commission, under three mayors. She helped raise money for neighborhood leaders to travel to other cities. She enjoyed giving back to her community. She had a great sense of humor and could be rude also, but she was most loyal to the people she loved and if anyone would hurt them, she became a mother bear.
She loved Peoria, where as a child she played on the river, she was a tom-boy and she fought like a boy.
She worked at Hometown Buffet for three years and loved working with people and the staff there. Whenever a neighbor fell on hard times she would show them where to go for help, after she would take food out of her own ice box to feed them. She loved people, her community, her family and faith.
Lived in Warner Home and Taft as a younger girl, which taught her a lot about life and people.
When she got married, she loved playing shuffleboard and was good at it. She sang karaoke and danced, people always say life goes by too fast, I say it was a wonderful life; I like a return of all the times in my life. I loved and lived life and loved the ups and downs. Her nieces were always there for her, cleaning the house, took care of the yard, along with great neighbors, who checked on her and her good friends were as awesome to her like family. They were always there.
“It was a wonderful life, just went by too fast” Caroline Holford
