Rheta Bess Holt

Rheta Wood Holt was born Rheta Bess Wood on February 15, 1934 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. She graduated from Goldsboro High School in 1952 and went on to attend Wake Forest College. On October 2, 1954, she married the love of her life, Seymour Holt, and lived out the rest of her 90 years with Seymour by her side. During those years she cultivated a loving home for her husband, nurtured their four children, Worthe, Scott, Adair, and Caroline, and provided an eternally happy place for her grandchildren and great grandchildren to visit.

Rheta and Seymour began their life together in Tacoma Park, Maryland while Seymour served in the U.S. Army. The couple moved back to Goldsboro in 1955 where Rheta worked for the Goldsboro News-Argus and Seymour began working as a pharmacist. In 1957, Seymour began his long career with Eli Lilly & Company and the pair welcomed their first child. Their life with Lilly moved them several times over the years to Burlington, NC, Indianapolis, IN, Boston, MA, and back to Indianapolis in 1971 where their last child was born and where they spent the next 50 years in the same home they built that year.

Rheta spent her life in service to many organizations volunteering countless hours of her time to worthy causes. She served as a tour guide at the State House in Boston, Massachusetts having been named a Doric Dame by the governor and spent many years as a member of P.E.O. and the Southern Club of Indianapolis. She earned her Master Gardener certification in 1994 and was a member of the Fall Creek Garden Club cultivating a showplace landscape at their Ewing Street home featured on the renowned Indianapolis Garden Club tour. Rheta had a beautiful singing voice, and was a member of the First Baptist Church of Indianapolis sanctuary choir for nearly all of their 53 years here. She and Seymour tirelessly supported the choir and the church both personally and financially over the years. Perhaps one of her greatest joys was the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. As Carousel Society members, both Rheta and Seymour have had a longstanding relationship with the museum which certainly included many visits with her children and grandchildren but also included unwavering support for the organization culminating in timeless gifts including Seymour the Brachiosaur, Rheta the feathered T. Rex, and the Seymour and Rheta Holt Tennis Center.

Rheta is survived by her husband of 70 years, all four of her children, 9 grandchildren, and 7 great grandchildren each of whom spent wonderful days of love and laughter with her at the home where they continue to congregate and fellowship today.

Rheta and Seymour's family:

Son: Dr. Worthe S. Holt Jr. of Indianapolis and his wife Dr. Marie Holt, their sons, Worthe S. Holt, III of Indianapolis, his wife Kelly, and their children Worthe S. Holt, IV (Rowe) and Eloise and John B. Holt of Chicago, IL and his children Allison and Jack.

Son: Scott F. Holt of Indianapolis and his wife Patti, their daughter Katie Withrow of Bartow, FL, her husband Anthony Withrow and their children Royce, Austin, and James; and their son Mitchell Holt of Cincinnati, OH.

Daughter: Bess Adair vanSpronsen of Live Oak, FL and her husband Pieter, their daughter Sara Bess vanSpronsen of New York, NY, and their son Jacob vanSpronsen of Maplewood, NJ and his wife Holly.

Daughter: Anne Caroline Nietert of Leo, IN and her husband Matthew Nietert, their daughter Annie Stetzel of Leo, IN and her husband Ethan Stetzel, their son Blake Nietert of Leo, IN, and their son Sam Nietert of Leo, IN.

If you knew Rheta, you knew kindness, generosity, and southern charm. She was always and forever will be the quintessential southern belle; dearly loved and fondly remembered by all who had the privilege to know her.

Visitation will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2025 from 10:00 AM -11:00 AM with a service to follow at 11:00 AM at First Baptist Church, 8600 N. College Ave., Indianapolis, Indiana. Burial will follow at Crown Hill Cemetery.

Contributions in Rheta’s memory can be made to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

( https://give.childrensmuseum.org/rhetaholt ).

Leppert Mortuary – Nora Chapel assisting with arrangements. To share a memory or condolence, please visit www.leppertmortuary.com.