Elisabeth Holladay

A Life Well Lived

Born in 1930 on the eve of WWII in Switzerland in a small town along Lake Zurich. Elisabeth was raised by a single mother who had left Austria in the aftermath of WWI seeking a better life. Elisabeth’s mother worked long hours six days a week as a cook at a hotel.

Elisabeth treasured early morning Sunday walks with her Mom up into the forest above town to collect berries, mushrooms, wildflowers and listen to bird song. Like all Swiss children she made many school hiking trips into the Alps.
Life was not easy growing up in her younger school years- she and her older brother raised rabbits for meat and fur, made firewood out of newspaper soaked in water and squeezed dry into compressed ‘logs’.

She did well in high school-studying to be a nurse’s aide and au pair. At the age of xx her life changed when she moved to England to be an au pair. She had studied English in high school but improved greatly living outside of London.

In 1953 she moved to Lawrence Kansas for another aupair position with a professor and a family of young children. At the First Baptist Church she met the only love of her life, Kenneth Holladay. He just happened to be teaching the young adult Sunday school class that day. Luckily for him, he had studied German in high school and was fluent enough to carry on a conversation with Elisabeth. Kenneth was attending University of Kansas as a pre-medical student. After dating for a while Elisabeth and Kenneth were engaged in 1954. Her au pair position ended in Lawrence so she left the state for another position taking care of a family in Michigan. They were separated for two years but wrote (actual letters through the USPS!) to each other  2-3 times a week. After her commitment ended in Michigan, Elisabeth moved back to Lawrence. Kenneth and Elisabeth were married in 1956 at the Danforth Chapel at University of Kansas. Their honeymoon was the start of a lifetime of adventurous travel together across the United States and the world. They traveled to Canada and took the Cunard Line Saxonia shop to England and a train onto Switzerland for Kenneth to meet his new in-laws. They went out on a date to dinner or a movie almost every week. During winter break for their children they often would escape for a week to the Bahamas or Bermudas. After Kenneth retired from his family practice every year they went to an exciting travel destination. They enjoyed white-water rafting trips in Idaho, llama mountain trekking in Wyoming, trekking in New Zealand and train trips across Europe, driving the Alaskan Highway and more.

Through it all, they made regular visits to see their beloved grandchildren. Elisabeth loved being a Grandmother.

When Kenneth entered medical school at the University of Kansas they moved into a tiny 232 square foot trailer they bought for $1,000- that Elisabeth paid $800 of (about 8 months salary for her at the time). Winters were so cold that the pipes often froze and their bed sheets froze to the walls. The one kerosene heating element was at the other end of the trailer. Elisabeths position as a lab technician at the KU Medical Center helped pay for the 1 gallon fuel containers that she carried inside. 

After Kenneth received his medical degree, Elisabeth very much wanted to live in Montana outside of Glacier National Park or in rural Vermont. Kenneth wanted to be close to his family so they ended up settling in Eudora, Kansas where he established his family practice. Elisabeth opened up Kenneth’s world to hiking, nature and the wonder of the mountains. To compensate perhaps for living in Kansas, Kenneth and Elisabeth went tent camping across the USA every summer with many trips to Glacier National Park and other Western mountainous parks.

In the late 1960’s they moved to 16 acres of native prairie with a pond and a creek in the city limits. Even before construction of their new home was finished, Elisabeth began a life-long project of converting the surrounding grassland to a lush, rich forest. She (with help from her family) planted hundreds and hundreds of trees including oak, hickory, maple, pine, spruce, fir, cypress, linden, redbud and even fruit orchards of apples, cherries and plums. She loved rhododendron, honeysuckle, lilacs, honeysuckle and wildflowers. During times of drought she would orchestrate the dragging of long stretches of hose or bucket brigades to water young saplings. As time went on and the trees grew into a forest she loved walking around the land. She knew all the different names of trees.

Elisabeth was a devoted mother and wife who often helped Kenneth’s practice by working at his office as needed. She volunteered as a Cub Scout den mother. When her children had to get up early for a school basketball practice she would have breakfast ready at the table for them. She would take her children on daily trips in the summer to Lawrence Public Library to check out books. On summer camping trips she cooked family meals from scratch-over an open fire in the early years before kerosene camp stoves appeared. On mountain hikes walking along the trail seeing her beloved familiar wildflowers like edelweiss, gentians, columbines and forget-me-nots, she would burst forth with Swiss-German songs from her homeland. She and Kenneth made sure their children had opportunities to visit Switzerland and Austria and get to know their relatives living there.  Her mother was able to move to Eudora and live in their family home for many years. Since she could not speak English, her four children had to learn German if they wanted to communicate with her Elisabeth was quite proud that her daughter was able to obtain her Swiss citizenship. 

Elisabeth was known for her boundless energy and sense of humor. Many times her family would find her and her Mom sitting at the kitchen table laughing with tears streaming down their cheeks over something funny that happened. Elisabeth believed strongly in the power of prayer and had a strong Christian faith. She and Kenneth loved attending Eudora Baptist Church.

She had many sayings in German that she would give out to her children at appropriate moments such as; “Whomever does not hear or listen must feel.”

Elisabeth Holladay is survived by four children, eight grandchildren and a niece and her family in Switzerland.

She was devasted by the loss of her husband, Kenneth Holladay, M.D. on February 11, 2024. After her husband passed away she shared very clearly how much she missed him and that she never loved anyone else.