Henrietta Stringfellow Holt, age 96, of Greeneville, TN, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend to many, passed away peacefully December 15, 2023. Mrs. Holt was born on September 15, 1927, in Schlater, Mississippi, to Henry Robert and Lillian Draper (Brown) Stringfellow. She and her brothers Frank (born 1930) and Jack (born 1934) moved with their parents frequently across Mississippi and Louisiana, as her father pursued work as a farmer, mechanic, truck driver and heavy equipment operator. 

The family was Baptist, but her parents did not entirely trust the boys of Louisiana, so in high school, Henrietta attended a Catholic school, Providence Academy for Girls, in Alexandria. She loved the nuns who taught her and ascribed to them her learning how to dress and behave with grace and dignity, and an appreciation for education. She worked while in high school at a Kress Department Store and as an operator for Bell Telephone (which she loved). After graduating in 1945, she left home and moved to Memphis to receive Medical Laboratory Technician training. This move was courageous, not customary for her time or cultural milieu. 

Her first position was at Milan Hospital in west Tennessee. Here, in 1947 she met Bevley Dan Holt, back at the family farm on a break from his education at Duke University in electrical engineering. They married on September 30, 1948, and lived in a house on the family farm in Milan, where the first son Robert Dan was born. They then moved to St. Louis (where another son, James Gilbert, was born), and on to Memphis (where the final son, Richard Alan, was born). Dan decided he wanted to be a physician rather than continue engineering, so he returned to school in 1958, with many subsequent years of pre-medical training, followed by University of Tennessee Medical School, and a Residency in Radiology. During this time, Henrietta was the only wage earner, as a lab technician, and then school crossing guard from 1965 onwards (so she could be home with her boys after school). The family transitioned to Greeneville in 1968 and joined First Baptist Church, where Henrietta and Dan stayed members the rest of their lives. 

They moved into the historic Fowler home on Main Street in 1971, and kept that beloved and beautiful house as a base even as Dan moved among positions ranging from New York to Minnesota and Kansas (eventually, retiring from the VA in Johnson City), with Henrietta joining him. Everywhere they lived, she made friends. As a mark of the affection of these far-flung connections, she received upwards of 100 Christmas cards from around the country each year. She was active in historical preservation efforts, such as for the Dickson-Williams Mansion. 

Henrietta was a caring person, who loved and attended to her family and friends, and cherished their visits. She was resilient and resourceful throughout life, whether dealing with financial challenges during Dan’s training, or grappling with health difficulties from a serious accident and later aging, or the unexpected death of Dan in 2004. She loved fishing and golfing with friends, and crafting artwork. 

Henrietta was quietly religious, and she had Bible passages posted around the house, such as a card with a swallowtail butterfly and the Biblical quote “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us”, a fitting epitaph for her life. An appreciation of beauty and style graced all aspects of her life, from the hats she wore, to the lovely flower garden she cultivated, to the elegant interior of her house, filled with heirlooms, antiques, and her own paintings, drawing and embroidery. 

Until life’s end, she was blessed with near-perfect sight, hearing and sharp intelligence, and savored the beauty of the world, the mountain landscapes of the region, sunsets, trees stretching overhead, birds in the air or at the feeders, along with visits and calls from friends, neighbors, and family. She is laid to rest next to her husband in a country graveyard in west Tennessee. As she was lowered into the earth at her funeral, in an unforgettable moment, an elegant flock of Canada Geese soared over us, etched against the blue sky, almost a grace note welcoming the passage of our mother’s soul to another and better place, and honoring her abiding love of beauty and nature.

In addition to her parents and husband Dan, she was preceded in death by her brothers. She is survived by her sons Robert Dan (Lynne), James Gilbert (Louise, deceased) and Richard Alan (Kimberley), and by her grandchildren Laura, Megan and Joseph (to Richard), and Josh and Jason (to James), and great-grandchild (Dylan, Joshua, Jacob, Jack, and Grace), and many loving nephews and nieces. The funeral was held at Bodkin Funeral Home in Milan, Tennessee on January 13, 2024, and a memorial service at First Baptist Church, Greeneville, on March 2, 2024.