Marilyn A. Holland

Marilyn A. (Martin) Holland, 83, of Elizabeth, Ill., died Friday, Aug. 3, 2012, at the Elizabeth Nursing Home. Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7, at Elizabeth United Methodist Church. Burial will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Elizabeth. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 6, at Law-Jones Funeral Home, Elizabeth. Marilyn was born Dec. 7, 1928, at Deaconness Hospital, Freeport, Ill., the daughter of Robert H. and Edna (Tippett) Martin. She attended the Weston School and graduated from Elizabeth High School, Class of 1946. In 1950 she earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce and finance from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with a minor in religion. She was the first of three generations to graduate from Coe. Marilyn was united in marriage to Raymond “Doc” Holland on Aug. 4, 1951, at St. Mary's Parsonage, Elizabeth.
They lived in the Commercial Apartments in Elizabeth for five years, then in a house by Village Park for 15 years. In 1970 they moved to the former Alvin and Florence Roberts farm, continuing a legacy of Gill family ownership dating to 1852. They lived in that house until moving to the Elizabeth nursing home in 2005. The family continues to own hundreds of acres of original Gill family land. The current River Ridge School was built on land Doc and Marilyn sold and donated to the school district, and the library named in their honor overlooks the family farmland.
Marilyn worked for the Elizabeth office of Country Companies, was part-time employee at the Jo Daviess County Farm Bureau and spent five years with the county treasurer's office. She also was a bookkeeper at the Farm Service Gas Station in Elizabeth. Marilyn was a life member of Elizabeth United Methodist Church, past secretary and treasurer of United Methodist Women and United Methodist Church Memorial Fund, past secretary of the Elizabeth Historical Society, the Elizabeth Township Clerk for more than 30 years and served on the Elizabeth School Board from 1973-1978. She loved to travel, research local and family history, flower garden, and was an excellent cook.
Marilyn is survived and lovingly remembered by three sons, Gary (Kathy) Holland of Libertyville, Ill., Kevin (Carole) Holland of Billings, Mont., and Roger (Mary) Holland of Apple Valley, Minn.; five grandchildren, Scott (Kristie) Holland, Matt Holland, Kim Holland, Laura Holland and Eric Holland; three great grandchildren, Jack, Max and Charlie Holland; sisters- and brothers-in-laws Bertha (Harold) Herrmann, Ruth Marks, Shirley Holland and Lawrence Holland; and many nieces and nephews.
Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Raymond “Doc” Holland, who died in September 2007; and brothers- and sisters-in-law Albert (Mary) Holland, Freda (Mike) Lisk, Lucille Peska, David Holland, Frances Holland, Harlan Marks and Kenneth Wiegert.