Helen M. Holder

Helen M. Holder September 19, 1932 - July 24, 2016 Helen Mar Holder, born in Forest City, Iowa, was promoted to heaven on July 24, 2016 at Friendsview Retirement Community, Newberg, Oregon as a result of natural causes. Helen was born to DeVere and Fern and had 3 brothers, Roger, Franklin, and Edward. She attended Jefferson Grade School, Roosevelt Junior High School and graduated from Mason City High School in 1950. She participated in drama and chorus activities. Helen attended the University of Iowa School of Nursing and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1954. She participated in Lutheran Student Association, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, and nursing student activities. Helen and Ray Edgar Holder had attended the same Mason City schools, but didn't begin dating until they met again at the University of Iowa. They both became committed Christians in October of 1954 on campus. In the middle of a snowstorm, they became husband and wife on December 29, 1954. They were married for 61 years. They had 4 children: Russell, Karen, Ruth, and Thomas. The family moved to Mahomet, Illinois and then to Portland, Oregon, where Ray studied to become a minister. From there, they become the pastor and wife at Kenai Lake Baptist Church in Cooper Landing, Alaska in 1963. The Vietnam war was escalating and Ray entered the U.S. Army as a chaplain in 1967 and the family lived in Missouri, Florida, and Texas. They then moved to Glenallen, Alaska where they served as pastor and wife at the Glennallen Community Chapel and later at Barton Community Baptist Church in Oregon. When Ray entered the hospital chaplaincy, they lived in Beaverton and Redmond, Oregon. Through all these years Helen worked as a mother, Pastorʼs wife, and nurse at the University of Iowa, Emanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon, Faith Hospital in Glennallen, Alaska, Clackamas County Public Health Nurse, and Hospice House Nurse in Portland, Oregon. She was dearly loved by all she served. Helen loved to spend her time cake decorating, making homemade bread, sewing, quilting, reading, walking, and making vintage porcelain dolls. Her children and grandchildren treasure their personalized hand knit Christmas stockings she knitted for each of them. Helen and Ray moved to Friendsview Retirement Community in Newberg, Oregon in July of 2004. The family wishes to extend a special thanks for the love and care Helen received while at Friendsview as she struggled with vascular dementia for the past six years. Helen is survived by her husband and large extended family including 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. There will be a private family service in Newberg Oregon where Helen will be laid to rest at Valley View Memorial Park. A memorial service will follow at Grace Baptist Church in Newberg, Oregon on Saturday, August 6, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.