Date of Birth:
Tuesday, January 3, 1928
Date of Death:
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Age:
95 years old

Margaret Terese Holt

Margaret Terese Holt passed away at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Scottsdale, AZ on January 25, 2023 after a brief illness, with family at her bedside.  She was the middle child and only daughter of William Arthur Finley and Mary Elizabeth Finley (Hazen) born on January 3, 1928 in LaCrosse, WI.  She married the love of her life, John “Jack” O. Holt in LaCrosse, WI on September 4, 1954.  They resided for sixty-six years in Rochester, MN where they raised their four children until Jack’s death in 2021.

Margaret was a loving daughter, wife, mother, grandmother and educator.  She pursued her education at Aquinas High School in LaCrosse, received her teaching certificate at LaCrosse State, her nursing degree at St. Xavier University in Chicago, and finally her Master’s degree at Winona State.  She loved nursing and passed on that love to the thousands of students she taught at Methodist-Kahler School of Nursing, the College of Saint Teresa in Winona, and finally at Rochester Community College, during her 35 years of teaching.  She was hard-working and expected nothing less from her students and her children.

Margaret was an avid reader of everything from gothic romance novels to nonfiction.  In other words, she read everything she could get her hands on.  She had an infectious laugh and a dry wit.  She was kind and generous to a fault.  She was an excellent cook and loved to bake.  She loved gardening, crossword puzzles, putting puzzles together, watching what Jack affectionately referred to as her “who done it” on TV, and playing cards.  In retirement, she and Jack traveled the country in their RV taking in all the beauty and history the United States has to offer.  Best of all, she loved the ocean and spending winters near San Diego, CA. She embraced her Irish heritage and Catholic faith traveling several times to Ireland to see where her ancestors had come from.

Margaret is preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her beloved aunt, Agnes Finley and her brothers, Roland and Bernard.  She is survived by her daughter, Mary Beth Holt-Perkins (James), her son, John Jr. (Raquel), her son, Patrick, her daughter, Theresa Holt-Mota, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Rochester with Father Russ Scepaniak officiating at 10:30AM on Monday February 6, 2023. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial to follow will be in Calvary Cemetery next to her husband of sixty-six years.

Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com