Margaret Rebecca Hollow

Margaret Rebecca Collison Hollow, who came West from Maryland for the summer in 1941, met a handsome young man from Helena and made Montana her home for 70 years, died Wednesday, July 27, 2011.
A celebration of her life is planned Monday at 4 p.m. in Marysville at the historic Methodist-Episcopal Church, which her family has carefully restored. She will be buried in Monson, Mass., in the family plot of the Needhams, who came to what is now Massachusetts in the 1630s.

Margaret was born Oct. 27, 1918, in Groton, Conn., the daughter of Robert Wallace Collison and Grace Esther Needham Collison. The family lived in Quincy, Mass., and Merchantville, N.J., until her dad’s job with the Navy Department took them to Washington, D.C. They settled in Takoma Park, Md., where as a youngster, she tap danced for WWI vets at Walter Reed Hospital. She earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Maryland in 1940.

After working for Woodard & Lothrop and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in downtown D.C., Margaret went to Yellowstone National Park for the summer to work as a waitress at Old Faithful Lodge. There she met John Wallis Hollow, who was down from Helena for the July Fourth weekend with two buddies. It was love at first sight. Their adventures included a night when she stepped onto the back of a passing black bear as she slipped out a window after curfew to go dancing in West Yellowstone. They were married in Helena Sept. 12, 1941.
Margaret and John bought a home at 428 Washington Drive in 1951. They raised five children: Bob (Kathy Dombrovski), John (Charlotte BowenHollow) and Peggy Hollow-Phelps (Chris Phelps), all of Helena, Dan (Karen Ogden) of Great Falls, and LeeAnne Hollow-Bennett (Bob Bennett) of Reedsport, Ore. Big John died April 12, 1991. Margaret remained in their home and was active until her health took a turn for the worse on Sunday. She died peacefully Wednesday at home.

When her children were younger, she drove them around the state and country for ski racing trips and could be found at the wheel pulling water skiers in the summer at Canyon Ferry, Later, Margaret traveled to visit her children in American Samoa, Scotland, Cameroon and Mali. Aside from her wonderful stays at The Royal Hawaiian in Hawaii after the children were grown, she said her most memorable trip was when she took the first four children ages 9, 7, 2 and 9 months on a 6,700-mile car trip to see her parents.

Over the years, Margaret has been a community volunteer in about every way possible. She was active in St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, where she taught Sunday school and served on various committees. She volunteered for many years at Bryant School, which threw a huge 90th birthday party. She served on the boards of the YWCA, Deaconess Children’s Home and St. Peter’s Hospital Association. While St. Pete’s association president in the late 1950s, she organized a tea and a ball. She led the grand entrance on the arms of her husband and Gov. Hugo Aronson. She participated in many style shows over the years and could share the details of the beautiful gowns and matching hats.

She enjoyed three terms on the Helena Citizens Council, was a member of AAUW and the Marysville Pioneers, and was active in Helena Graduate Home Economists, Fortnightly Book Club and Westerners. She spent months researching a report she delivered in period costume this April on the first meeting of the book club in 1890, complete with tea, coffee and cookies appropriate to gold rush Helena. When she got wind of plans by the state in 1997 to pave an undeveloped area across the street from the state Capitol on Sixth Avenue, Margaret walked up the street to the office of then Gov. Marc Racicot and set in a motion a campaign that saved half the space for a park. A steady Republican vote most of her life, she was an enthusiastic supporter of a young Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, and volunteered at his campaign center downtown. She got to meet the future president in Butte in 2009 and proudly reported “I got a hug from Obama.”

She spent countless hours helping the underprivileged and people with developmental disabilities. She received several awards, including the inaugural First Lady’s Award from Ann Stephens in 1990. Her projects included starting a Sunday school in Stewart Homes and advocating for decades for a young man who went from the Montana Developmental Center in Boulder to living independently in Helena and finally buying his own home.

She was a voracious reader, a skilled seamstress, a fine bridge partner, grew beautiful flowers (mostly yellow or orange) and baked thousands of cookies over the decades for children and grandchildren who were away from home. In a tradition dating to 1942, she made 100 pounds of treasured and truly delicious fruitcake for family and friends each Christmas.

The ultimate focus of Margaret’s life was her family, which went beyond her beloved grandchildren and great grands to include many friends in many places. When asked a decade ago what she would like to have accomplished at the end of her life, she responded: “to raise a great family.”

She is survived by her children, 11 grandchildren, Deb, Rob, O’Brien, Tyler, Ryan, Cody, Britt, Colin, Stuart, Jade and Jenna; and 10 great-grandchildren, Tyler, Courtney, Samantha, Chloe, Pele, Mulukan, Tunney, Gibson, Isabella and Elsie. She also is survived by a brother Lawrence (Millie) Collison of Carmichael, Calif., and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by brothers Ted and Mac.

Anderson Stevenson Wilke is handling arrangements. Memorials are suggested to St. Paul’s UMC Choir Dreams fund (512 Logan, Helena MT 59601), or The Angel Fund, which helps Helena children with necessary school items (PO Box 7436, Helena MT 59604).

Service Schedule

Share

Send flowers

Please visit the floral shop page for assistance in choosing a local florist.

Photo Gallery

No photos have been submitted yet.
Click here to share yours.