STEPHEN G. HOLDER

HOLDER STEPHEN GALBREATH HOLDER Stephen G. Holder of Tall Timbers, Maryland, died unexpectedly but peacefully of natural causes, on June 24, 2016. A retired career CIA Senior Intelligence Service Officer, National Clandestine Service, he continued working within the intelligence community following retirement at the Office of the Director of the National Intelligence, National Counter-intelligence Executive, and the Institute for Defense Analyses and the Defense Group Inc. Stephen was fluent in Mandarin Chinese and a recognized scholar on East Asian affairs, with an emphasis on China. A graduate of Hanover College and a US Army veteran, hebegan his study of Chinese at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, a pursuit he continued at Middlebury College and the University of Indiana. At IU, he earned an advanced degree in Chinese from the East Asian Languages and Culture Department. He maintained a lifelong passion for all things Chinese. He is survived by his loving family: his wife Martha, with whom he shared a wonderful 17 years; his brothers Robert Holder and Anthony Holder, and sister Hanlon St. Clair. He will also be missed by his Boston Terrier, Stella. Stephen Holder was a constant source of support and love to his three children, Ellisa Christine DiRenzo, Tara Holder Kristick, and John Galbreath Holder. Stephen took extreme pride in his seven grandchildren and was always making them laugh, reading them books in various character voices or teaching them how to cut a rug and dance with passion. He went out of his way to make sure those around him were smiling, laughing, and happy. He was a man of wisdom, humility, humor, kindness and curiosity; his love for life and his friends and family will never be forgotten. A life well lived, he will be missed by many. A service will be held at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family, 4250 Harewood Rd NE, Washington, DC 20017 on Wednesday August 31, 2016 at 7 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m. For those who wish to make a donation in memory of Stephen please consider the following charities: (1) https://ciamemorialfoundation.org/donate/ (2) http://www.potomacriverkeepernetwork.org/ (3) http://www.ftpusa.org/index.html">www.ftpusa.org/index.html. Interment will take place at a later date.(3) http://www.ftpusa.org/index.html. Interment will take place at a later date.