Martha Ann Holland

Martha Ann Holland was born on August 18, 1941 to Woodrow and Margie Dowdy in Jacksonville, Texas. Her family soon settled in the Houston area where she attended Milby High School. Mom was very active in band, played the trumpet in the orchestra, and served as a Majorette. She graduated in 1959 with honors as a straight A student.

One of her most defining moments in life was in 1960. Along with her sister Glenda she went to meet up with her friend Jake at the Corral drive-in burger joint. Someone pulled into "her" parking space. She promptly told Jake, "some idiot just took my spot!" The culprit got out of the car and walked up to his friend Jake. That idiot came to be the love of her life, David. They married on July 1, 1960. Their honeymoon was quite a disaster. The car caught on fire in the middle of nowhere and burned their luggage. Jake and his wife came to the rescue. The four of them had to share a bed at a hotel and traded turns getting up all night putting money in the A/ C. They soon came to have two children a year apart, Keith and Cindy.

The next defining moment in her life was embarking on an in-depth study of the Bible which led to her dedicating her life to her heavenly Father Jehovah God and symbolizing that with her baptism on June 30, 1967 at the Galvez Hotel, alongside her close friend Hazel. She cherished her Bible knowledge and in turn spent much time in helping others to come to know Jehovah God and dedicating their life, including her husband, children, sister and brother. We truly cherish the spiritual heritage Mom gave us. In addition to sharing Bible truths with others, we remember Mom always helping those in need. Taking groceries to people, offering a listening ear and shoulder to cry on, and even opening her home to many that needed help getting back on their feet. We remember one night a friend needed milk for her baby, we all piled into the car, got milk and took it over. Dad was really nervous about her husband coming home, as he was a tyrant, but Mom insisted. Sure enough we saw him coming down the road in his pick-up with the rifle rack inside. Mom never flinched as Dad high-tailed it down the road with him chasing us. I truly believe she could've taken him, she had true grit. Mom was also known for her beautiful voice. She loved singing at her Christian meetings and on camping trips. People always commented to us how they loved hearing her sing. She also played the trumpet in the orchestra at our Christian conventions. We will always remember how proud we felt of the talents mother possessed.

One of the things Mom enjoyed the most was traveling with her family and dear friends. As children we had many weekend trips to Austin to visit their dear friends the Fifes, those weekends were filled with joy and laughter. We also hold dear the family vacations to Colorado, Wyoming, California, Arizona, and Canada in the pop-up trailer and our custom van with the bed in it. They continued to upgrade a little to a motor home. They enjoyed many years of traveling and cruises with family and dear friends such as Hazel and Oscar, Helen and Merle, Mickey and Gene, Glen and Jo and so many others. Mom also enjoyed taking her grandchildren camping and to Disney World, spending time with them at home and around the pool, helping many of them learn to swim and playing board games with them.

In Mom's remaining years her decline with dementia prevented her from doing many of the things she loved, including sharing her wisdom. As her dear friend Hazel said," she was one of the most intelligent people I've ever met." If you ever needed to know how to spell a word, phrase, structure a sentence or paragraph, Mom was the one to go to. We would have enjoyed her help in writing this, we are quite sure she would have smoothed it out for us. How deeply we look forward to the time when Mom will have all her mental faculties back and will be able to enjoy new adventures with her dear David, family, and friends.

Martha is preceded in death by her parents and loving husband David. She is survived by her son Keith, wife Heather, daughter Cindy, husband Mike, grandchildren Kristyn, Ryan, Casey, Colin, Elizabeth, husband Sam, Jonathan, along with Matt and Amber who were like grandchildren to them. Great grandchildren Julia, Max and McKenzie. Siblings Glenda, Gerald, wife Sondra, Jacalyn, husband Jerry, along with many cherished nieces and nephews.