BLUE HILL – Elizabeth “Liza” Walsh Holdsworth, 87, who was grateful for the simple things in life and who found beauty in the world around her, died in the early morning of July 28, 2012, with her family at her side at Parker Ridge, Blue Hill. Liza was born July 13, 1925, in Springfield, Mass., the only child of Thomas Francis Walsh and Elizabeth Fletcher Walsh of Amherst, Mass., owners of The House of Walsh, a haberdashery that was for decades an Amherst institution.
A graduate of Amherst High School and Pine Manor Junior College, Liza married James R. L. Holdsworth, her childhood sweetheart and “the boy next door,” Sept. 7, 1946, after his service in the European Theater of World War II. They often recounted how they had played together in the sandbox as children. Jim’s career as an advertising and public relations executive with General Electric, MacDonald, Devy and Holdsworth Advertising, the Copper Development Association and the American Council of Life Insurance, led the family to successive homes in Schenectady, N.Y., Westport, Conn., and McLean, Va. The couple retired happily to Sedgwick in 1987. Jim passed away in 2006, one week after the couple’s 60th wedding anniversary. Liza dedicated her life to her family. Throughout her life Liza was also dedicated to her community and church. She served on the altar guilds of St. George’s Episcopal Church, Schenectady, N.Y., St. Paul’s, Norwalk, Conn., St. Thomas, McLean, Va. and St. Francis by the Sea, Blue Hill, where she also kept the history of the congregation. Liza was an accomplished gardener and flower arranger, and an active member of Garden Club and Blue Hill Garden Club. Every year she knit through skeins of yarn making baby sweaters, hats, scarves and mittens for charity and support of Sargentville Thursday Club in Maine and for St. Francis by the Sea. Liza enjoyed repeated visits to Cape Cod, Mass., Denmark and Ireland with her husband and family.
She is survived by three children and their families, including daughter, Elizabeth Malaby and husband, Richard, of Hancock and two sons and their wives, James and Diana Holdsworth of Amherst, Mass., and Tom and Darlene Holdsworth of Herndon, Va.; and five grandchildren, Katherine and John Holdsworth, and Richard, William and Megan Malaby. The Holdsworth family thanks those friends and neighbors who have sustained our mother through the years, the staff of Parker Ridge for its exceptional care and Hospice of Hancock County. Her family says what she always said to us, Mom, we “love you no tongue can tell.”
A memorial service celebrating the life of Elizabeth Walsh Holdsworth will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, at St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church. Because Liza was fond of Amherst College and her hometown, the family hopes those who attend the service will consider wearing something bearing Amherst College purple in memory of her. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making a donation to St. Francis Flower Guild, P.O. Box 76, Blue Hill, ME 04614.
Elizabeth ‘Liza’ Walsh Holdsworth
