Barbara Holtz

1924 - 2025

Holtz, Barbara

December 26, 1924 - October 27, 2025

In Barbara's own words:

"I was born in Boston on a wild snowy night just as theater curtains went up. This probably meant I was to follow a theatrical life pattern. And so it has been. Our home was one big you-can't-take-it-with-you affair. My mother was a graduate from the New England Conservatory of Music and my father was a radiologist with a private space at home and a regular office above the Colonial Theater in Boston. Music lovers and musicians of every stripe came in and out while my sister and I practiced ballet or the violin and of course the piano. After graduation from high school, when World War II had taken hold, my father decided he had to sign on to the US Air Corps. My family left for a far-off region called the Midwest and to St. Louis, M0, where at Jefferson Barracks men were deployed to outlets for training in the forces of war. My father was sent to France. I was sent to the University of Missouri, where the school of journalism was deemed to be the best. During the war I had the opportunity to work as a journalist. After graduation I went to New York City with my sister and college roommate, where I worked in publicity and public relations at Young and Rubicam (now known as Y&R) on Madison Avenue. It was a wonderful place and one of the main outlets for the great push to New York City from the other coast, filling the halls with fabulous talent and creativity. Sometime later, after the power of the new medium television had taken over the airwaves, a flood of folks arrived, interested in new methods of production. Knowing this, I moved over to CBS TV. It was a thrill, for there were new young actors and directors there, many of whom later were Oscar winners in Hollywood. Just in front of me sat Yul Brynner. Down the hall were Sidney Lumet and John Frankenheimer. All became important and renowned movie men. It really was a divine place to work and had all the theatrics one needed. By then I had married a young doctor who decided after his internship and residency in New York to further his training in St. Louis, where he had been accepted at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. Going back to St. Louis was very hard for me. I couldn't imagine what I would do there. It wasn't until I met an interesting teacher of art, Lee Wallas, who offered a class in painting and drawing, that I became absorbed in the learning and making of art. I applied to and attended Washington University as a special student in painting. I realize now that theatrics can come from oneself. Standing alone, attempting to create something of interest is hard work. But the endeavor can afford one a fascinating life. One doesn't need an audience. Still, I was pleased and honored to have shown my work in galleries in St. Louis, New York City, Mexico, and Florence Italy, and to have received exhibition prizes. My last exhibit, in 2014, was at one of the finest places in St. Louis, the Sheldon Galleries, in a one-woman show. This must be the theatrical life if ever there was one."

Barbara leaves behind daughter Holly and sons Marc (Melinda) and Peter (Nancy), grandsons Max (Tiffin), Chester and Leo and granddaughter Claire; great-grandson Luc; nieces and nephew Deborah Sanchez (Jorge), Jane Loitman, Carol Greenspun (Michael) and Robert Loitman, and other beloved nieces, nephews and cousins. Husband Sumner and granddaughter Charlotte predeceased her.

A Private Family Graveside Service Was Held. In lieu of flowers, consider a contribution to Temple Israel in St. Louis or a charity of your choice. Visit www.bergermemorialchapel.com for more information.

BERGER MEMORIAL SERVICE