AASE HOLBY

HOLBY--Aase-Grethe, passed away peacefully in her daughter's home in New York on Thursday morning January. 26th of natural causes. She was 91 years old. Aase was born January 17, 1921 in Oslo Norway. Her father died when she was seven, leaving her mother and five children without a livelihood, but her mother managed to keep her home and raise her children through the Depression. In 1941 Aase graduated from Oslo Handels Gymnasium (Business School). She had dreamed of being a fashion designer, but with the Germans now occupying Norway, she went to work for the Norwegian Government-in-exile, serving in the Resistance. She assisted in her Austrian-Jewish brother-in-law's escape from Norway and thereafter, posing as a young mother, she took Norwegian-Jewish children to safety over the border into neutral Sweden. While working for the Resistance in Trondheim in 1943, she was awoken in the middle of the night by the Germans and imprisoned in a concentration camp in Norway, where she spent the next 18 months of her life. Released in 1944 to be followed, she escaped into Sweden and worked for the Norwegian Embassy in Stockholm. She was transferred in 1945 to England, celebrating VE-Day with the British, and then onto the Norwegian Embassy in New York. Aase was offered a job in the newly formed United Nations, which was then laying plans to move to New York, (the first Secretary-General was Norwegian) but opted instead for family and homemaking, marrying in 1947 and moving to Larchmont, NY. Her beloved husband Warren B. Holby was a founding partner of Merritt & Holby - a firm building post-war housing developments in Westchester County, later developing office parks and Rye Ridge Shopping Center - the first Shopping Center in the eastern United States. While raising her family in Larchmont, Aase was active in many local organizations, including Planned Parenthood of Westchester, Larchmont Women's and The Newcomer's Clubs, was a Trustee of Larchmont Avenue Church and Chairman of Larchmont Assembly. Aase and Warren also enjoyed their home in Ludlow, VT, where she was a devoted volunteer for “Skiing with the Blind.� Aase was active in all things Norwegian. She served as Chair of the American-Scandinavian Society-Social Comm, a director of Scandinavian Seminar and an active contributor at the Norwegian Seamen's Church. Aase and Warren traveled to Norway annually in their later years, both to Oslo and the mountain log-home. Warren passed away in 2002. Aase is survived by her four children: Grethe Holby Elgort of New York, Kristin C. Holby Darnell of Larchmont, NY, W. Barrett Holby Jr. of Warren, RI and Wegard D. Holby of Upper Black Eddy, PA; and eleven grandchildren: Sophie, Warren and Ansel Elgort; Duncan, Phoebe and Camilla White; Robin and Will Holby; and Sara, Kate and Jack Holby. On January 17th Aase celebrated her 91st birthday with her family. May she rest in peace after her eventful, adventurous, extraordinarily happy life, full of love. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, February 4th at 1:30pm at Frank Campbell Funeral Chapel, 1076 Madison Ave, New York. Memorial gifts may be sent to New Life, 66 Clinton St. 2nd Flr., New York, NY 10002; or The Children's Village-Development, 1 Echo Hills, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522.