Holly Joanne Manson
Obituary
(Other last names used: Holkesvick, Wood, Heath, Harrison)
September 2, 1947 – January 22, 2020
Holly Joanne Manson was born on September 2nd, 1947 in Los Angeles, California to Dorothy Elizabeth Holkesvick and Eugene Edgar Holkesvick. She was raised in Fullerton, California, and she graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a B.A. in English and a teaching credential. She married four times during her lifetime, and is survived by a devoted and loving husband, James G. Harrison, Jr., with whom she had a beautiful relationship full of dancing, singing, and laughing. Holly was the mother of Karen Elizabeth Wood and Ellen Vivian Miles, the stepmother to Shanta Navvab Dominguez and Joshua Nabil Heath, and the grandmother to seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Her inclusive spirit brought many lives into her family, and she was devoted to lifting up every young person who came into her orbit. As an educator, her legacy runs deep, as she taught thousands of children in California how to read, how to speak with confidence, and how to carve their place in the world. After retirement, she devoted her time to teaching and empowering non-English speaking Gilroy community members. She had many passions, especially gardening, art, and musicals. Her open-hearted nature led to her striking up conversations with anyone she met and forming genuine connections with everybody. She will be missed by anyone who was lucky to know her. She was one of a kind.
Everyone is welcome to join Holly's Celebration of Life at the Pintello Comedy Theater in Gilroy, California on February 29th, 2020, from 1pm – 4pm. Donations may be made in her name to the Slingerland Institute for Literacy at https://givingtuesday.mightycause.com/organization/Slingerland-Institute-For-Literacy.
Published in Gilroy Dispatch · February 19, 2020