Catherine "Catie" Holloway

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Catherine Holloway Obituary

In Loving Memory
On April 1, 2020, Catherine "Catie" Holloway (formerly McAllister), beloved mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, departed this life at the age of 67.
For a full obituary and to share condolences, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/CH4120.

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Published by Deseret News on Apr. 14, 2020.

Memories and Condolences
for Catherine Holloway

Sponsored by Neptune Society - Salt Lake City.

8 Entries

Carol Jonas-Simons

April 12, 2020

Catie and I met at Scott and white Neurosurgery department over 10 years ago. We connected and became good friends sharing a lot of our lives with each other. She transferred to a different department and we did not see each other for a while I was in Walmart one day and we reconnected as we were both delighted to see each other and reconnect. She shared her diagnosis of cancer. She was a strong woman and when she moved to Utah to be closer to family, we still kept in touch. I went to visit her this last summer in Utah. When she got George a precious little dog, he lit up the remaining time of her life. I will miss her. Prayers for her family.

Mom and I at my wedding on March 21, 2009

Phoebe Cager

April 12, 2020

Rest in peace Mom. To me you were the best Mom ever. Thank you for everything. You are amazing and I love you so much, and I miss you. I am happy for your peace, happiness and being able to be in heaven with Jesus, Heavenly Father and our loved ones. You're my favorite angel in heaven.

Ranae Mann

April 10, 2020

I am so glad that I got to know Catie. She was kind and friendly to me, I always enjoyed visiting with her. It is hard to not be able to talk with her now, but someday in the future, I look forward to seeing her again.

Karen Strebel

April 6, 2020

I had the opportunity to be Catie's ministering sister (visiting teacher) for over a year. I also ministered to another sister who passed away four months ago. I wrote in my journal about these two fine sisters, and Hyrum wanted me to share my journal entry with you. The first part of the entry is about the other sister, but without her part of the story, my story would be incomplete. So, I will share the whole journal entry with you. My entry
As families all around were getting ready for that fine feast of turkey and stuffing, one family took turns fluffing pillows and watching as their mother slowly slipped away through the veil into another life. The understanding that she was in a better place and that she was now with her husband who had passed on several years earlier, helped their hearts as they thought upon the Savior and his love for each one of us. They knew they were not alone.
Her love and nurturing for them were still felt, and they knew they would embrace her once again, but those thoughts did not give much comfort as they looked upon what now, was an empty room.
It was hard each time they entered her little world of four walls that had become her little oasis as they had sat and visited with her each day: oftentimes they tucked her in bed after a major heart operation or helped her return from the hospital after the results from a bad fall where she had hit her head causing injury and leaving a large, dark purple, lump on her forehead, a trauma she would never fully recover from.
Through it all, she was always happy, and always concerned about other people. She always wanted to know about you and what you had been doing when visiting with her. If you didn't come to see her for a long period-of-time, she would call to find out how you were doing. It wasn't about her. It was always about you: her friend!
After a wonderful family surprise birthday party for this fine ninety-year-old mother, our Father in Heaven soon called her home.
As I look back and remember the times we spent talking over lunch, or laughing at ourselves, or how she listened carefully as I vented to her the things that were happening in my life. I thank God he gave me her! What a blessing it was to have her in my life. I am not the same, for I have been blessed so dearly by such a fine woman as Alice.
Now, four months later, my heart is heavy once again. I have sat and held the hand of another dear friend who was called home. How does one say goodbye to such beloved friends?
After bringing the car to a stop in a very crowded parking lot from holiday travelers at the airport, Catie and I sat and watched the billboard announce which flights were arriving and which had just departed while we sipped on hot chocolate as a cold breeze wrapped around us outside the car. Sitting and telling stories to each other, we waited for the long-anticipated arrival of a daughter who was coming to visit from the east coast. How fun to know and visit with another sister of mine, Sonya, as we drove home through the inclement weather.
The clock ticked far too fast during the holiday while the family celebrated together enjoying each other's company and found the days had passed by faster than they wanted, but now they had to part.
While we visited inside the car on our way to the airport, I realized the blessing of finding another sister and gaining a friendship had been created. Not even the dense fog could break this bond we now had with each other.
As we carefully drove to the airport through the patches of mist that lay close to the ground, this allowed Catie and I afterward to tear the town apart. Sipping on hot chocolate was a warm and soothing time for us together, and when everyone else was going to bed to arise for work the next day, Catie and I sat at a local business drinking hot chocolate, laughing, and talking. Goodnight everyone! We are out on the town! As best as one could do for someone who had cancer throughout her body. What started as breast cancer soon moved to her bones, then her lungs, and then throughout her body. No matter the order, it happened, and to one of our sisters who tried to put God and family first.
Text messages back and forth, written from the heart were exchanged, I have a new bed, and new orders from the nurse, Don't walk', they said. Yea, I knew it was coming. Doesn't mean I have to like it. We have to keep you safe. I can't imagine how hard this is for you. We pray for you every day. And we love you! I know, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I know, I'm sorry. What can I do for you? Nothing, just keep loving me. That's easy!
Loving her wasn't the problem, the cancer was. She had one lung that had already given up on her and her other lung was struggling. Her heart was failing her, and she was struggling with each breath. Talking was very difficult as well, for the cancer was taking her ability there too.
Heavenly Father soon called her home where she could be with two of her children who had died when they were very young, both at age three. She no longer had to stay in bed, she can run and walk and even use her voice for good, now. One day we will spend time together again.
How can I put into words the love I gained for and from these fine sisters, my sisters? Daughters of a living God who loves them so much that words cannot express. I was given the blessing; out of all those whom God could have chosen; He chose me to be their ministering sister. I was blessed so much more than they ever were or could have been. I was the one ministered to. I was the one whose life was changed.
There is something divine when one ministers, whether it be men or women: it touches the heart, it gladdens the soul, it touches lives, and changes one forever. No matter how small or large the task, it blesses lives. Our Heavenly Father knew that by serving, we grow, we get to know one another better, and we learn to love deeply. This is what causes humility to take place in our hearts, it softens them, making it easier to open, allowing us to receive the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Time spent with these ladies has been a gift from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I have become a better person from personal insights, through God's daughters gone before me. I recommend to all, male and female, to seek this gift, it will change your life, as it has mine.
Dear Holloway family,
Catie is so very special to me and I have learned to love every one of you. Thank you, Hyrum and Cynthia for allowing me to be there to help Catie at the end of her life. Sitting with her and helping her when she discouraged and so uncomfortable. Being there to try and help in a small way, will always be something I will hold dear to my heart.
My heart goes out to the rest of her family. Sonya, I am so grateful I got to meet you and talk with you a couple of times since. You are such a good person, I love you. Phoebe, I met you a couple of times as well, but I am sorry I never got to get to know you more. Catie loved you more than you know. Morgan, your mom was so very proud of you, and as a baby of the family myself, she had a soft spot in her heart for you, just like moms do for their last born. Please accept our condolences. You are in our prayers. Love, Mark and Karen Strebel

Robert McAllister

April 6, 2020

Catie and I corresponded during the last several years. She told me about her illness but I never heard a complaint. She always called me Grandad Bob as I am the father of her husband. She was prayerful and we always exchanged our promises of prayers, not just the promises but the prayers. May she be in eternal peace. Grandad McAllister.

Sonya Greenawalt

April 5, 2020

Mom had such a strong faith. While she was sad to leave us, and in her true nature persisted to the very end, she was truly looking forward to being with those she loved who had passed on before her especially her children Mauria and Owen and her father whom she lost when she was 5.

She had an amazing work ethic and persisted in every struggle. Mom taught me how to sew and cook and nourished my love of reading, nurturing, and life-long learning. Growing up, if something around the house needed doing, she'd figure out how to handle it and get it done. I definitely thought of her as a Rosie the Riveter type at times.

She was the one who encouraged me to stretch out of my comfort zone and travel to the Soviet Union for a student exchange program the summer I was 16 - and then moved to the other side of the country while I was there. She loved to share the funny story of how horrified the group administrators were when she called to give them our new address - as though the family had completely abandoned me.

She tried to make the mundane fun, one of my favorite memories as a kid was the time she spread out a blanket on the living room floor and we ate popcorn for dinner while watching the Disney Sunday movie. It felt so indulgent as a kid - and it was only decades later that I learned that the meal of popcorn was due to not having any other food in the house.

But the most important thing Mom taught me was the importance of letting the ones you love know that you love them and the importance of loving everyone: "Love one another as Jesus asked us to, and He wasn't picky about whom He loved for they are all His children."

Lisa Cederlof

April 5, 2020

I always enjoyed Catie, but when I had the chance to spend ten minutes one on one in a ministering interview we just "clicked". We started texting back and forth and I came to truly love her! I am thankful for the time that I was able to spend with her, hearing about all the places she had lived, the things she had done, her siblings and her children. A few days before she passed, she was giving me ideas of things I could take my children to do to to keep them busy during this time of isolation. I am thankful for her optimism, her wisdom and her love! I will always cherish my memories and the time I was able to spend with her. Love & prayers for your loss!

Gilbert Holloway

April 5, 2020

My sister, A courageous person, stalwart, with an uncommon attitude of strength. A person familiar with adversity, bearing pain and hardship without complaint and yet still able to laugh at well intended humor. I will not forget. I admire you and I love you sister. Rest now dear sister, rest in Our Father, who is peace and Mercy.

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