Mildred Stelzer Holt

Born on Aug. 27, 1915, in Matson, Missouri, she became part of the story of the last armed trained robbery in the United States as she traveled to Texas cradled in her mother’s arms.

A fiercely independent child, she refused, as her mother would tell, to submit to the tightly swaddled blankets and, invariably, morning would find one bare leg defiantly sticking out its confinement. The theme of this narrative would repeat itself in many variations throughout her life.

As the oldest of eight children, she spent her childhood being their sister, their mother, and their friend, guiding them through life’s challenges and helping them realize their dreams with her work and support.

As a woman of her times but also ahead of the times, she set off to find a career, landing in Houston and living in the fashionable Houston Heights neighborhood and quickly rising to the position of head bookkeeper at Dentler’s Potato Chips Company.

World War II broke out and a forgotten love from many years past found his way into her life. She was married on a sweltering night in Thorndale, Texas, on July 22, 1944, to Victor Fred Holt, who had first caught her eye acting in a church play – at the age of seven. She thereupon embarked on a new career as a mother and community volunteer. While she gave her time generously to church and civic projects, she awaited the arrival of her first child, Patricia.

Her second child, Michael, followed two years later, under circumstances that were to mark the rest of her life. He was born with cerebral palsy and, although many advised her to place Mike in “a home” and forget about him, she adamantly refused, caring for and protecting him until the last years of her life, when he, in turn, became her caretaker with equal devotion.

Two more daughters, Debbie and Gayle, completed the family that loved her dearly. Mildred had Gayle at the age of 45, the year she also took up figure skating, tailoring, cake decorating and ballroom dancing—rounding out her efforts on behalf of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League and other causes.

A passionate gardener, she found herself more at home outdoors than indoors, creating memorable flowery expanses from Oklahoma to Texas to Georgia to Illinois and, finally, back to Texas again. The Rose of Sharon was her signature tree, and thusly so, for it signifies elegance, grace, and steadfastness, words which just begin to describe her beauty and loveliness.

She was predeceased by her husband Vic in 2000 and one brother, Wilbert Stelzer; and she is survived by three sisters, Elinor Blakney, Eudoris Shreve and Lucile Boemer, and three brothers, Clarence Stelzer, Marvin Stelzer, and Fritz Stelzer; as well as all four of her children, Patricia Cummings, Mike Holt, Debbie Robertson and Gayle Snowden; plus three grandchildren, Tricia Cummings, Jeffrey Cummings and Josiah Snowden; and four great-grandchildren, Shahinda, Abdul Rahman, Yousuf, and Sarra Abul Hawa.

There will be a visitation for family and friends on Thursday, August 26, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home, Pflugerville. Burial will be on her birthday, at 1:30 p.m. Friday, August 27th, at Cook-Walden Capital Parks Cemetery in Pflugerville, Texas, with a memorial service to follow at 2:45 p.m. at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Austin.

In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a donation to The Center (3550 W. Dallas, Houston, Texas 77019 ), Mike’s wonderful new home.

You may share your memories of Mildred with the family at www.cookwaldencapitalparks.com.

Arrangements under the direction of Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home and Cemetery, Pflugerville, TX.