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Becky Holtom went to her Heavenly Home on June 23, 2014. She was born Aug. 26, 1935 in St. Louis, Mo. to Clark Gardner Porter, MD and Jayne Elizabeth (Newton) Porter.
She was raised in Three Rivers then the Porter family relocated to Apalachicola, Fla. where she graduated from Chapman High School in 1953. After graduating she attended Kalamazoo College majoring in music which included playing Piano, Pipe Organ, Flute and Viola plus Choral Conducting and Voice.
Upon her return home to Three Rivers from college, she became reacquainted with Frank Holtom, who was home from two and a half years of service in the Army, stationed in Germany. They were married April 26, 1957 after a short courtship and remained together for 57 years. The Holtoms moved south in 1979 to live on St. George Island until 2006, when they built their current home in Apalachicola. Becky was the organist and pianist at the First Baptist Church of St. George Island for many years and helped to organize the Bay Area Choral Society, which became part of the Ilse Newell Concert Series.
Becky is survived by her husband, Frank Erwin Holtom; their three children, Kathryn (Tommy Robinson), Charles (Sherry) and Jonathan; grandchildren, Clark, Frank, Casey, Alexandria, Elliot and Eliza Holtom and Hannah Wintker; great-grandchildren, Hayden, Lilly, Elaine, Chance and Isaiah Holtom. She was the oldest of her siblings Clark Porter, Judyth Porter (Amy Jo and Loren), Debra Porter Byers (Julie, Pete, Chris and Bobby), Sharon Nolan and Glory Hanson. She was preceded in death by her parents and her “Mom” Betty O. (Klapp) Porter and brothers Mickey Maher and Michael Porter. She also wanted to acknowledge greatly loved family friend Tom Woods and close to her heart care-giver Jennifer Harris Finch.
Becky was a loving and generous wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, sister and friend. She will be missed greatly by all who knew her, but most especially by her children who are proud to have been raised by the unique person we were fortunate enough to call “mom.”
A celebration of her life for family and friends will be held later this summer. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her name to The Ilse Newell Fund for Performing Arts; c/o Fran Edwards, PO Box 405, Eastpoint, FL 32328.
