Anna Mae Childress Holder, 96, died Sunday, February 5, 2012.at the Evergreen Hospice Care Center in Seattle, Washington. She was born May 25, 1915 in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of William Franklin and Dolly Ester Downer Childress. She had a sister Evelyn Liberty who has preceded her in death.
Anna Mae grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child she had a banty rooster as her special pet. She spent summers with her grandmother who was half Navajo Indian. Anna Mae helped her mother run a boarding house where Charles Lindberg often stayed. She learned to play the violin while in her teens and returned to the violin while in her 80s. She enjoyed music all her life.
At the age of 20 she moved to California seeking a better job. She found employment with General Petroleum as a secretary. Through mutual friends she met her future husband Lyle Joseph Holder. They were married November 26, 1942 and lived in Los Angeles where he died after 61 years of marriage.
Through the years she worked for various companies and was one of the first to become a keypunch operator for Hughes Aircraft where she met Howard Hughes. She retired from Western Airlines, which was later bought out by Delta Airlines. That provided her an opportunity to travel often.
She enjoyed helping others, needlework, cooking, canning, baking, gardening and tending her prized cymbidium orchids. She was a strong supporter of 3 of her grandsons as they participated in roller-skating on the local, regional, national and world levels. She enjoyed boating and other activities at Lake Gaston, North Carolina. She went jet skiing at the age of 92. She had a special love of butterflies.
Anna Mae is survived by a son Gary Holder and his wife, Georgia, of Henrico, North Carolina and a daughter Michele Rhoads of Seattle, Washington. She is also survived by 5 grandchildren: Chad Holder of Richmond, Virginia; Wendy Cochrane and her husband Brian of Richmond, Virginia; Joshua Rhoads and his wife Erin of Seattle, Washington; Tyler Rhoads of Springfield, Missouri; and Clayton Rhoads of Seattle, Washington. She also has one great-granddaughter Madison Ann Cochrane of Richmond, Virginia. She is also survived by her faithful dog “Taco”.
The funeral will be held at Holy Cross Chapel with interment to follow at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Memorial donations may be made to Evergreen Hospice Care Center, 12822 124th Lane NE, Kirkland, Washington 98034.