Carol Yates Franklin Holliday

Carol Yates Franklin Holliday (formerly of Washington D.C. and Indianapolis) died ageless surrounded by her family in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (She requests that you do your own math on her age, if you must.) Carol was born on November 27, 1922 to Carol van Antwerp Wilson and Joseph Harris Franklin Jr. in Washington D.C., the only child of her parents.

As a girl, she attended the Potomac School and cherished early memories of spending time with her father at Oakland, a farm owned by the Franklins since the late 1650s in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. There she visited numerous cousins and enjoyed riding horses. She attended National Cathedral School and graduated from St. Catherine's School, an Episcopal school in Richmond, Virginia in 1941.

Coming of age in the early years of World War II, Carol enjoyed the lively Washington social scene and made her debut in Washington and Baltimore at the Bachelor's Cotillion. During the war years, she worked for the Red Cross. She danced several times with JFK before his departure with the U.S. Navy; she was friends with his sister Kick. She met her future husband at the "oldest" house in Washington, D.C., The Lindens, an elegant mid-18th century Georgian house moved from Massachusetts to Washington by friends of the family. Sitting next to her at a dinner party in candlelight (all modern 20th c. inventions were hidden), Alexander R. Holliday, Jr. shocked her by announcing that she would be his future wife one day! Carol did marry him and soon moved to his native Indianapolis, which became home for the couple and their children for the next sixty years. When her children were older, Carol was determined to obtain her college degree and graduated with a B.A. in British History from Butler University in her 40s.

Carol had many interests, including a passion for historic preservation and an eye for antiques, 18th c. English porcelain and fashion. She served as President of the Indiana Society of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America from 1985 to 1989 and as Vice-President of Region II on the National Board of the NSCDA from 1992 to 1996. She spear-headed the preservation of the 1844 J.F.D. Lanier Mansion in Madison, Indiana, overlooking the Ohio River, including an archaeological dig that uncovered pottery integral to understanding the time period. For over ten years, Carol was a Board member of the English Speaking Union, an organization that supports international understanding through scholarship programs in the English language. Known for her willingness to host not only all family friends, but English Speaking Union speakers and scholars, she was recognized for her service and elected Director Emerita of the Indiana Branch of the ESU. Carol was also an active member of the Woodstock Club, The Dramatic Club, the Junior League and Trinity Church in Indianapolis. In her later years, she spent over a decade living at Fox Hill Village in Westwood, Massachusetts where she made many close friends and was active in the Massachusetts Society of the NSCDA, spear-heading another archaeological dig at historic Quincy Homestead, the estate of Dorothy Quincy, spouse of John Hancock, well into her 90s.

Carol is survived by her children Carol Holliday Blew (J. Miller Blew) of Boxborough, Massachusetts, Lucia Holliday Buie (James Buie) of Fearrington, North Carolina and Alexander R. Holliday III (Katherine Comer Holliday) of Brookline, Massachusetts and her grandchildren Caroline, Alexander, Sabrina, and step-grandson Matthew, and step-great-grandson Theo. A funeral service will be held on February 24th at 11:00 a.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 59 Court St., Dedham, MA 02026, with a private family burial at a later date. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the NSCDA-MA, 55 Beacon Street, Boston, MA, 02108.