- Date Of Birth: January 26, 1925
- Date Of Death: July 26, 2018
- State: North Carolina
Bette Owen Holloway (born Betty Bernice Owen) of Raleigh, NC, died of liver cancer on July 26th, 2018 at 9:25 am at her home. She was 93. She was clear-minded until the very end, and was mobile until the last few days.
She was preceded in death by her father, Clarence, her mother, Dagmar (Agnes), all her siblings: Norman, Lois, Elizabeth (Biddy), Leslie (Ikey), Margaret, and Bobby, and her husband, Ted. She is survived by her five children: David, Chris, Beth, Kathryn, and Richard, as well as
15 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
She was born in Tucumcari, New Mexico, on January 26th, 1925, the sixth of seven children in the Owen family. She lived there until age 5, when The Great Depression began, at which point the family moved to Amarillo, Texas. The family lived in an abandoned candy factory for a time before getting a house in town. She moved back to Tucumcari and went to high school at Tucumcari High School. After graduating, she moved to Albuquerque, NM, and worked at the air force base. She met Edwin (Ted) Holloway there; he was an Air Force pilot and working as an instructor pilot after flying more than 50 missions in the South Pacific in World War II. They were married on April 18th, 1945, and ultimately moved back to Ted’s hometown of Montclair, New Jersey. Ted started a business as a general contractor and eventually built the family home at 12 McLean Road in Clifton, NJ. They had five children and a vibrant family home with a pond and a lawn that often served as the neighborhood athletic field. After the children were older, she worked as a dental assistant in Montclair. She and Ted eventually separated in 1975, when Bette moved with Kathryn and Richard to Flagstaff, Arizona. Bette lived in Flagstaff from 1975 to 2010 and worked at WL Gore and Associates in public relations (after brief stints in a donut shop and a Mexican restaurant to pay the bills).
She was passionate about geology and astronomy, and also worked as a docent at Lowell Observatory for many years.
After undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery in 2009, Bette decided to move East to be closer to the rest of the family, and settled in Atria Oakridge senior living community in 2010. She attended church at North Raleigh United Methodist Church. At Atria, she helped establish and maintain numerous flower and vegetable garden beds with the assistance of family and other residents, and was recognized for her work in making Atria’s gardens a vibrant and active part of the community experience. Bette was also an avid reader; forever in pursuit of greater knowledge of all things, the simple to the complex. She loved reading the Wall Street Journal daily, still attempting to do so until days before her death.
Bette was an amazing woman, admired by all whom she met. Yet she remained very humble. Her values resonated those of her generation: love of family, love of country, a desire to be a contributor. She excelled in all those regards and will be greatly missed by family and all of those fortunate enough to have crossed her path.
