Obituary for Rowena Boehling (Holliday)
Rowena Holliday Boehling, 84, of Salem, Va., passed away Monday, January 16, 2023. She was born in Leesville, Va., but moved to Salem at age two. She was a daughter of the late Henry Harmon Holliday, Sr. and Novella Wright Holliday. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas L. Boehling Jr., brothers, Henry Harmon Hunter Holliday Jr., John Wright Holliday, Thomas Alan Holliday, Robert Edwin Holliday and sisters, Janice H. Sullenberger, Sylvia H. Shepherd, Marilyn H. Jones, and Elaine H. Hudson.
She was a graduate of Andrew Lewis High School, Class of 1956, Roanoke College with a BA in Classics in 1960, and she earned her MA in Classics from the University of Kentucky in 1965.
In Lexington, Kentucky she taught Latin and English for seven years at Bryan Station Sr. High School and Latin and Ancient History at The Lexington School for three years. In the Roanoke County Schools in Va., she taught Latin and other subjects for twenty-seven years mainly at Glenvar High School. Her students won many Latin awards, both at the State and National levels. She greatly enjoyed teaching and sponsoring the Latin Clubs at all the schools where she taught.
Rowena also enjoyed being a majorette in the Andrew Lewis High School Band, singing in college and church choirs, and travel in Italy and Greece. Following her retirement in 2000, she became a member of the Thursday Morning Music Club, compiled her families’ history and composed over 3,000 poems and acrostics about family, friends, and events past and present.
She is survived by her son, Thomas Lee Boehling and grandsons, Thomas Elliott Boehling, and Kayo Lawrence Boehling of Roanoke, VA; sisters-in-law Saundra B. Lykins of Lexington, KY, Marie Waid Holliday and Cheri Kaiser Holliday of Salem; brother-in-law, Thomas Mitchell Hudson of Roanoke and over one hundred nieces, nephews, and cousins, as well as many special friends.
A memorial service for family and friends will be conducted on Saturday, February 4, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at John M. Oakey & Son Funeral Home, Salem, Va. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Salem Education Foundation, P.O. Box 1461, Salem, Va. (https://connect.clickandpledge.com/organization/sefandaa/) for the Annie Aldridge Latin Scholarship or the Lauritz Christensen Band Scholarship Fund.
She was a graduate of Andrew Lewis High School, Class of 1956, Roanoke College with a BA in Classics in 1960, and she earned her MA in Classics from the University of Kentucky in 1965.
In Lexington, Kentucky she taught Latin and English for seven years at Bryan Station Sr. High School and Latin and Ancient History at The Lexington School for three years. In the Roanoke County Schools in Va., she taught Latin and other subjects for twenty-seven years mainly at Glenvar High School. Her students won many Latin awards, both at the State and National levels. She greatly enjoyed teaching and sponsoring the Latin Clubs at all the schools where she taught.
Rowena also enjoyed being a majorette in the Andrew Lewis High School Band, singing in college and church choirs, and travel in Italy and Greece. Following her retirement in 2000, she became a member of the Thursday Morning Music Club, compiled her families’ history and composed over 3,000 poems and acrostics about family, friends, and events past and present.
She is survived by her son, Thomas Lee Boehling and grandsons, Thomas Elliott Boehling, and Kayo Lawrence Boehling of Roanoke, VA; sisters-in-law Saundra B. Lykins of Lexington, KY, Marie Waid Holliday and Cheri Kaiser Holliday of Salem; brother-in-law, Thomas Mitchell Hudson of Roanoke and over one hundred nieces, nephews, and cousins, as well as many special friends.
A memorial service for family and friends will be conducted on Saturday, February 4, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at John M. Oakey & Son Funeral Home, Salem, Va. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Salem Education Foundation, P.O. Box 1461, Salem, Va. (https://connect.clickandpledge.com/organization/sefandaa/) for the Annie Aldridge Latin Scholarship or the Lauritz Christensen Band Scholarship Fund.