In Loving Memory
Clara Holloway
May 14, 1938 — January 22, 2021 · Aged 82
“She made every room feel like home.”
Some of this memorial is kept for family.
Clara Holloway was born in the fictional town of Bellweather, Vermont, in the spring of 1938. She spent most of her life in the equally fictional town of Alder Creek, where her blue front door was rarely closed to neighbors, relatives, or anyone carrying a pie.
For thirty-two years Clara worked as the librarian at Alder Creek Elementary School. She remembered what every child liked to read, kept a jar of peppermints beneath the desk, and quietly paid the overdue fines herself when a family was having a hard month. Away from the library, she restored quilts, grew lavender, listened to jazz on Sunday mornings, and wrote long letters in green ink.
Clara is remembered for making ordinary days feel ceremonial: soup served in the good bowls, birthday candles at breakfast, and a fresh vase of something from the garden even in late autumn. Her favorite advice was, “Leave the porch light on.” Her family still does.
- Hometown
- Alder Creek, Vermont
- Occupation
- Elementary school librarian and quilt maker
- Education
- Green Mountain Teachers College
- Faith
- Unitarian Universalist
Celebration of life
Jan 30, 2021
Alder Creek Library Remembrance
This has taken place. What was kept from the day is here.
3 o’clock
Alder Creek Community Hall
12 Lantern Lane, Alder Creek, Vermont
Guests shared favorite books, stories, and slices of Clara’s lemon cake.
A walk through this life
The 1930s
The 1990s
The 2020s
Moments come from what the family recorded — nothing is invented.
Clara’s Small Joys
- Lavender by the kitchen window
- Jazz on Sunday mornings
- Letters written in green ink
- Peppermints in the library desk
- Leaving the porch light on
Recognized for expanding the school library and starting a neighborhood book-delivery program.