Carolyn Holford

Carolyn Holford, age 91, of Waco, TX passed from this life to her heavenly home on May 31, 2020. Graveside services will be held Monday, June 8, 2020 at 2 pm at Waco Memorial Park.

Carolyn was born at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, TX on July 1, 1928, the only child of proud parents Roland Lee Holford and Jimmie Louise Holland Holford.  Carolyn’s father Roland was so pleased with the birth of his daughter that he announced it in glowing terms on the front page of his newspaper, the Hico News Review.  Her birth was also announced in the Garland News which was published by her proud grandfather Will Holford who taught Carolyn’s father the newspaper trade.

Having grown up around newspapers, Carolyn learned how to set type as a Linotype operator at her father’s newspaper as a teenager.  She graduated from high school in Hico in 1944 and went on to study journalism at UT Austin, earning a degree in that subject in 1949.  After college she became the Society Editor of the Hico News Review from 1949 to 1951, then became Editor of that newspaper in 1951.  She later became the Society Editor as well as a Reporter for the larger Stephenville Daily Empire in 1956 before leaving to become a Reporter for her father’s new newspaper, the Meridian Tribune in 1957.

Having a new calling after several years in the newspaper business, Carolyn became a teacher in the Waco Independent School District in 1958 and taught there for 24 years, taking a break for one year to obtain a Master’s degree in English from the University of North Texas.  She also taught English at McLennan Community College for a brief time as well as attending Baylor University part-time to become a Certified Teacher-Librarian.  Suffice it to say, Carolyn managed to fit two careers into one lifetime!

Carolyn was a loving daughter who took wonderful care of her parents for many years as they got older.  She also enjoyed visiting and being visited by her many cousins, friends, and other relatives and spending time at her family’s cabin at Lake Whitney. She was an active member of Austin United Methodist Church for many years.

She is preceded in death by her parents in Waco and cousins Duane and Jane Holford, Bill Holmes, Gena Piccolo, and Harley Watkins, all of Garland, TX.

She is survived by cousins Sue Holmes Watkins and Jean Holmes of Garland, TX; Anneil Sullivan and husband Dan of Miami, FL; Jim Poore and wife Barb of Prescott, AZ; Roger Poore and wife Sandra of Heath, TX; and several other cousins as well as her former student and beloved longtime caretaker Sandy Gwin and her husband Robert and their daughter Kailyn Maldonado and her husband Carlos who together provided tender loving care and support to Carolyn during her later years until her passing.  Their care and comfort will never be forgotten by Carolyn’s family.

Special thanks to Ridgecrest Retirement Center and Texas Home Health Hospice for providing care for Carolyn in her final days.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Waco Children’s Methodist Home.