Obituary for Elizabeth M. Holt (McKinnon)
The family of Elizabeth McKinnon Holt, 90, known as Betty to her loved ones and friends, is deeply saddened to report her death on Wednesday, April 22 at Sunnyside Manor in Wall. To those who knew her best, Betty will always be lovingly remembered as a loving and devoted daughter, wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, cousin, aunt and friend.
Betty was born on October 14, 1929 in Jersey City, an only child to her loving parents Alexander McKinnon and Elizabeth (Paul) McKinnon of Kearny. Born just two weeks before the Black Tuesday stock market crash of October 1929, her childhood years coincided with the Great Depression of the 1930’s. At age 11, fifteen months before the United States entered World War II, Betty suffered the sudden loss of her beloved father, a World War I veteran and granite stonecutter, who emigrated to the US from Aberdeen, Scotland. Throughout the years of World War II, Betty and her Mom Lizzie both worked long hours at her uncle’s store, McKinnon’s Scotch Bakery, a Kearny establishment for nearly fifty years, while Betty also attended school. She graduated from Kearny High School in the Honor Society and the school’s orchestra, band and glee club. Soon after her high school sweetheart George returned from service in Sendai, Japan in the United States Army’s Pacific Theater occupation forces, Betty and George became engaged and then were married at Grace Methodist Church in Kearny in March of 1951. After becoming parents, Betty and George moved from Kearny to the Woodbridge Township borough of Colonia in 1956, where they would happily spend the next thirty-seven years. In 1993 Betty and George moved to Greenbriar Woodlands in Toms River. In Kearny, Colonia and Toms River, Betty developed many long-standing friendships through her involvement in community activities. She greatly enjoyed bridge, whether playing casually with friends or more seriously in competitive bridge events sanctioned by national bridge organizations. Over the years she fulfilled the requirements of earned masterpoints to achieve Life Master status as awarded by the ACBL. Throughout her entire life, Betty has been anchored by her strong Christian faith; she and George were active members of Grace Methodist Church in Kearny and St. Andrew Methodist Church in Toms River. More recently she enjoyed attending the First Presbyterian Church of Manasquan.
Betty is predeceased by her loving husband of 57 years, George Albert Holt (2008), her mother Elizabeth Paul McKinnon (1986), her father Alexander McKinnon (1940), and her loving cousin Evelyn L. McKinnon (2014). She is survived by her adoring son George Alexander Holt (Sandy), her loving daughter-in-law Jennifer L. (Coe) Holt, her precious grandson Alexander McKinnon Holt, 13, all residing in Wall. Also surviving are her cousin Jack Tassie of Barre, Vermont and his family, her nephew Bruce Holt of Oviedo, Florida and his family, and her niece Linda (Holt) NeSmith of Jacksonville, Florida and her family.
Due to the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic, a funeral service will be held at a later date when Betty is laid to rest at the family’s cemetery plot at beautiful Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont. A local memorial service in celebration of Betty’s life will also be planned and announced at a later time. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory to either First Presbyterian Church of Manasquan or the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation would be greatly appreciated. O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall is in charge of arrangements, www.obrienfuneralhome.com.
Betty was born on October 14, 1929 in Jersey City, an only child to her loving parents Alexander McKinnon and Elizabeth (Paul) McKinnon of Kearny. Born just two weeks before the Black Tuesday stock market crash of October 1929, her childhood years coincided with the Great Depression of the 1930’s. At age 11, fifteen months before the United States entered World War II, Betty suffered the sudden loss of her beloved father, a World War I veteran and granite stonecutter, who emigrated to the US from Aberdeen, Scotland. Throughout the years of World War II, Betty and her Mom Lizzie both worked long hours at her uncle’s store, McKinnon’s Scotch Bakery, a Kearny establishment for nearly fifty years, while Betty also attended school. She graduated from Kearny High School in the Honor Society and the school’s orchestra, band and glee club. Soon after her high school sweetheart George returned from service in Sendai, Japan in the United States Army’s Pacific Theater occupation forces, Betty and George became engaged and then were married at Grace Methodist Church in Kearny in March of 1951. After becoming parents, Betty and George moved from Kearny to the Woodbridge Township borough of Colonia in 1956, where they would happily spend the next thirty-seven years. In 1993 Betty and George moved to Greenbriar Woodlands in Toms River. In Kearny, Colonia and Toms River, Betty developed many long-standing friendships through her involvement in community activities. She greatly enjoyed bridge, whether playing casually with friends or more seriously in competitive bridge events sanctioned by national bridge organizations. Over the years she fulfilled the requirements of earned masterpoints to achieve Life Master status as awarded by the ACBL. Throughout her entire life, Betty has been anchored by her strong Christian faith; she and George were active members of Grace Methodist Church in Kearny and St. Andrew Methodist Church in Toms River. More recently she enjoyed attending the First Presbyterian Church of Manasquan.
Betty is predeceased by her loving husband of 57 years, George Albert Holt (2008), her mother Elizabeth Paul McKinnon (1986), her father Alexander McKinnon (1940), and her loving cousin Evelyn L. McKinnon (2014). She is survived by her adoring son George Alexander Holt (Sandy), her loving daughter-in-law Jennifer L. (Coe) Holt, her precious grandson Alexander McKinnon Holt, 13, all residing in Wall. Also surviving are her cousin Jack Tassie of Barre, Vermont and his family, her nephew Bruce Holt of Oviedo, Florida and his family, and her niece Linda (Holt) NeSmith of Jacksonville, Florida and her family.
Due to the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic, a funeral service will be held at a later date when Betty is laid to rest at the family’s cemetery plot at beautiful Hope Cemetery in Barre, Vermont. A local memorial service in celebration of Betty’s life will also be planned and announced at a later time. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory to either First Presbyterian Church of Manasquan or the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation would be greatly appreciated. O’Brien Funeral Home, Wall is in charge of arrangements, www.obrienfuneralhome.com.