Obituary of Mary Catharine Holderness

Mary Catharine Holderness, age 74 formerly of Iowa City and the Oxford area’s died Thursday, March 17, 2005 at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City following a brief illness. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City. Burial will be at the Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City. Visitation will be from 4 to 8pm Monday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Mary C. Holderness memorial fund. Online condolences may be sent for Mary’s family through our website @www.gayanciha.com. Mary was born August 14, 1930, in Solon, Iowa the daughter of Herbert H. and Velma C. (Williams) Kent. She attended school in Iowa City at St. Patrick’s School. She married Carl A. Graham on May 14, 1948, in Iowa City. Following his death, she married Carl H. Bell on November 29, 1965. They later divorced and on March 22, 1973, she married Leo A. Holderness in Fayetteville, Arkansas. For most of her married life, she resided at 909 North Governor Street in Iowa City and in Oxford, Iowa. For many years, she worked at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City, retiring as a nurse’s assistant in the surgery department. Her family includes her husband, Leo of West Branch; sons, Rex Graham and his wife, Juli of San Diego, CA, Bruce Graham and his wife, Callene of Alexandria,VA, Clay Graham and his wife, Julie of Lone Tree, and Alexander Bell of Mountain Home, ID; daughters, Linda Nichols and her husband, Robert of Pavillion, WY, Cheryl Machovec and her husband, Mike of Springville, IA, Mary Evans and her husband, Doug of Iowa City, Yvette Yansky and her husband, Doug of Iowa City, Annette Mumford and her husband, Guy of Iowa City, and Patricia Rammelsberg and her husband, Ralph of Keota; step-sons, Carl Holderness of Iowa City, and Rodney Holderness of Belle Plaine; step-daughters, Connie Conners of Ainsworth, Cheryl Dorothy and her husband, Rick of Ainsworth, and Carol Jones of Coralville; brother, Herbert Kent of Sterling Heights, MI; sisters, Esther Ross and her husband, Gary of Council Bluffs, IA, and Karol Bird and her husband, LeRoy of Iowa City; thirty-five grandchildren, and eighteen great-grandchildren; and beloved friend, Angel her dog. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Carl Graham, two grandsons, Todd Graham and Ron Jones and two infant sisters. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for Mary’s family and her services.