Our grief is shared throughout the GRRMF family with the heartbreaking news of the passing of Lyn Holliday, our Foster Coordinator, on Saturday morning, June 17th. Lyn was admitted to hospice care on Wednesday and her husband Barry said she passed peacefully Saturday morning.
The legacy Lyn leaves GRRMF was her passion for our dogs and for the fosters she entrusted with the care of these dogs. A volunteer and adopter since 2000, Lyn touched so many lives in her various roles in rescue, especially in her latest leadership roles in our Media and Foster teams. She and Barry adopted 10 GRRMF rescues, many with special needs, and provided them with a loving and joyful home where they were spoiled and adored. Lyn’s belief and passionate statement of love was “There is always room for one more dog”.
Lyn was an awesome writer/dog storyteller for our rescue about the precious rescues who needed a special home. Her last tender story was for Shadow, our 12 year old sweet black lab, who was adopted on July 15th one day before Lyn’s gathering by her fellow volunteers for her celebration of life tribute. Lyn’s angel paws are still guiding us all!
Lyn’s wish was to honor her memory with a donation to GRRMF (please follow this link: https://www.grrmf.org/donate/). Notations of Lyn’s name and a message can be placed in the “add a message” box on the first page along with the donation amount. We will share your message and name with her husband Barry. Her request was also included in her obituary. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/sarasota-fl/linda-marie-holliday-11338170.
Fly free, Lyn. Our broken hearts will start to heal knowing the thousands of GRRMF dogs you helped save met you at the bridge Saturday morning. Carol Forsberg, President.
On Sunday, July 16th, our volunteers gathered at several dog friendly parks in the mid-Florida area for Lyn Holliday’s Celebration of Life. At 11:00 am in each of the parks, her tribute eulogy was read, followed by a moment of silence and a scattering of bird seed to nourish the park creatures in Lyn’s honor. Many wonderful stories were shared for smiles through their tears. Thank you to our event leaders Barbara Durham, Donna Auger and Barbara Burgner and to all who attended or took a moment at 11:00am to remember Lyn’s love and passion for her GRRMF family.
Lyn Holliday Eulogy – By Nomi Berger, GRRMF media team member
We are gathered here today in three locations – distanced but united – to celebrate the extraordinary life of Lyn Holliday, our beloved Foster Coordinator who passed away peacefully on Saturday morning, June 17.
In the words of literature’s Zelda Fitzgerald: “Nobody has ever measured, even poets, how much a heart can hold.” And if ever those words applied to anyone, they applied to Lyn. For hers was a heart overflowing with love and loyalty, compassion and creativity, sweetness and sensitivity, dedication and determination, humanity and above all, humility.
Soft spoken, warm and kind, diplomatic, intuitive and accepting, she always saw the best in every person and dog she encountered, and always gave unselfishly of herself without being asked. A GRRMF volunteer and adopter since 2000, Lyn indelibly influenced and tenderly touched so many in her various roles within our rescue. An ardent advocate for our adoptable dogs and leader of our Media team, she was a spellbinding storyteller, particularly for those dogs requiring special homes. As our Foster Coordinator, her passion for our dogs and those entrusted with their care was palpable as she ensured that each dog was perfectly matched with an equally perfect foster home.
Over the years, Lyn, who was partial to cream-colored goldens, and her husband Barry adopted 10 GRRMF rescues, many of them older or with special needs, pampering and adoring them in the most joyful of homes. When she first began volunteering for us, Lyn famously said of her fellow volunteers, “The magic love dust they sprinkle on the goldens arriving here are the secret spices that make them whole again. To be part of a group of people who insure all these goldens find their way to ‘happy’ is a privilege.”
When asked about her most memorable moment, Lyn replied, “One Christmas Eve, we received a call that a 6-year-old male golden needed a foster home immediately. Since our last name is Holliday, it was the perfect time to have a new foster. The transporter pulled her ‘sled’ into our driveway and out popped this huge ball of delicious cream-colored fluff! He was gorgeous! And yet, he had been surrendered by a breeder because he was past his prime age to be bred. Best Holliday ever!”
This, then, was Lyn. Lyn, who was taken from us too soon, but who has left behind an incomparable and inspiring legacy. Lyn, who lived by example, without judgment or guile, and exhorted all of us who knew and worked with her to do the same. To give generously of our selves without being asked. To see only the best in others. To open our hearts to one another, honestly and fully. To continue sprinkling magic love dust on the neediest and most vulnerable goldens arriving here and insure that they find their way to “happy.”
In celebrating the life and legacy of Lyn, allow me to paraphrase Shakespeare’s immortal words:
“When she shall die,
Take her and cut her out in little stars,
And she will make the face of heaven so fine,
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun.”
