Margaret Catherine Hollon

"An extraordinary woman we were lucky to call mom." Margaret "Mardy" Catherine (Zeitz) Hollon, Esq., age 76, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 in Palm Springs, CA. Born in Lubbock, Texas on May 8, 1948, Margaret was the oldest of 4 children and daughter of the late James H. and Sadie Mae (Fields) Zeitz, Sr. Along with her 3 younger brothers, they moved from Lubbock to Washington State before settling in California. Margaret graduated from Santa Fe Trails High School. She worked as a secretary in Watts, CA for Herbert H. Hollon, Sr, a Juvenile Probation Officer, whom she began dating. During the Watts riots, Herbert had to hide her in order for them to safely escape the riots. Soon after they chose to move to New Jersey, where they married and had two sons, Herbert II and Christopher. Several years later, Herbert's job had their family relocate to Connecticut. Margaret loved being a mother but always longed to be more than a mom. She was actively involved with the PTA at her son's schools. She spearheaded the battered women's shelter in Waterbury which assisted and saved thousands of women and is still in operation today. This was just the beginning of her journey. She was a strong, determined and brilliant woman. As time passed and her determination grew, she wanted to show her sons what a strong woman could accomplish. Margaret decided to go to UCONN. She graduated with her B.A., LLD in Political Science, English, Law as Phi Beta Kappa, an honor bestowed to the top 1% of students by achieving and maintaining straight As all four years. She continued on to UCONN School of Law earning her Juris Doctorate, once again recognized for academic perfection by graduating as a Phi Kappa Phi. Margaret passed the bar exam on the first try with off-the-chart scores, which was unprecedented. Her main purpose and maternal instinct guided her to practice family law. She began her career at Altschuler, May & Stanek in Seymour. In just two years, Margaret made the daring move to open her own practice in 1988. She was a fierce competitor and a force to be reckoned with in the court room. It was obvious how powerful and brilliant she was. She fought for morality and went to great lengths to protect her clients. She respectfully declined the many opportunities she had to become a judge, half heartedly joking, "Judges are lawyers that can't hold down their own practice". She was the Chief Magistrate in the Waterbury Courts. She was assigned to protect the children of divorces that weren't keeping their intentions at heart. She would intervene and settle the divorces with the kids being saved from the bitterness of the parents. She became their hero as she was to us. More than anything in the world, being a grandmother and great-grandmother was everything to Margaret. Telling them stories and playing with them in her pool and watching them as they played. As much as she loved her family, Margaret loved traveling. She loved day trips into the city to attend Broadway shows but she was happiest when she was at the beach. She loved the Caribbean and the warm weather. Her annual family trip to Manhattan during the holidays was the highlight of her year. She would light up when she saw the looks on the babies faces when they saw the sights and sounds of Christmas with the lights, big buildings and the tree at Rockefeller Center. Our annual family dinner at Patsy's was what she would talk about for months. She never lost her love of the west coast, where she grew up. She began spending winters there with her mom and brothers and their families. Margaret was also insatiable about reading. Her home was filled with all types of books from crime, mystery, dramas, to romance. Sitting by her pool or having tea on her deck with a good book was a favorite pastime. Margaret battled cancer for over 10 years. Her strength when there wasn't any left to give, gave us all who loved her the strength to see her finally at peace. She will be missed and loved until we all take our last breath. We can only hope to live up to her expectations and dreams of what she knew we could all be. We will love you forever. Left behind to cherish her memory, Margaret is survived by her sons, Herbert H. Hollon II and his longtime companion Leticia Irizarry of Thomaston and Christopher J. Hollon and his wife Michelle (Zabit) Hollon of Woodbury, her grandchildren, her grandsons Christopher J. Hollon II and his companion Christine Henry of Bethlehem and Jacob and Frances (Nixon-Simon) Hollon of Middlebury and Eric Irizarry and Christiana Acevedo of Thomaston as well as her great-grandchildren, Sadie Hollon, Noah Hollon and Cooper Hollon and Christopher Hollon III. She also leaves behind her longtime companion Alan Boucher and his family, whom she loved as her own, her brothers and several nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Family and friends are invited to celebrate Margaret's life on Saturday, May 17, 2025 from 12:00-5:00pm at Bethlehem Memorial Hall, 143 Main Street, Bethlehem, CT. For more information, to sign the online guestbook or to leave online condolences, please visit www.maioranofuneralhome.com.