Mary Lou Hoholik

Mary Lou Hoholik, 90, passed away Friday, November 17, 2006 surrounded by loving family and friends. Mary Lou was born in Kansas City, Missouri, March 15, 1916 to Roy and Yoland Hollenbeck Dunkerley. She grew up in Oil Hill, Kansas, as well as Bartlesville, Oklahoma, before returning to graduate from Westport High School in Kansas City in 1934. Mary Lou was forever a K-Stater filled with "purple pride" having received a B.S. in Home Economics in 1939 and an M.S. in Food Economics and Nutrition and Institutional Management in 1945.

Her career as a dietician took her many places: Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kansas 1939-1941, Louisiana State University 1941-1943, Northern Pump Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota 1945-1947, University of Minnesota 1947-1949. While at the pump company in Minneapolis, she met and fell in love with Jerome (Jerry) Hoholik. Their 50-year marriage began February 21, 1949, in Kansas City. They settled in Jerry's hometown of Manistique in the upper peninsula of Michigan. While Jerry worked in the family dairy business, Mary Lou taught home economics at the local high school, and fixed the school lunches with the help of two students during her planning period, for an extra stipend of $50 a year. In 1955, she was offered a position as a county extension agent for 4-H, and she enjoyed that job more than any other in her life. A few years later, Jerry studied to become a nurse and they both took jobs at Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. In 1965 they returned to her native Kansas to be closer to her family. She was chief dietician at Kansas Neurological Institute there until 1971, then at Topeka State Hospital until she retired in 1983. During that time she was very active in the Kansas Dietetic Association, serving as secretary and as president. Mary Lou was a member of St. Phillip's Episcopal Church in Topeka, Kansas. She had served on the Altar Guild and coordinated volunteers for Let's Help to serve meals to the hungry in downtown Topeka. Jerry passed away in 1999, and in the spring of 2003 Mary Lou moved to Lenexa to be closer to her niece's family.

Mary Lou was a positive, caring, creative person who truly savored all the experiences life had to offer. She collected friends wherever she went, and everyone who met her felt richer for having known her. She leaves us beautiful paintings, exquisite needlepoint, and so many wonderful stories—we will never be without her presence in our lives.

Besides her parents and spouse, she was also preceded in death by her sister and brother-in-law, Eleanor and Carl Arbeiter. She is survived by her niece, Ellie (Rod) Seemann, Fairway, KS, great nephews and nieces, Josh, Leah, Jarrett, and Catherine Simpson, and her very special life companion, Bill Hansen, Lenexa, KS. A memorial service will be held in the chapel at Greenwood Terrace Apartments, 11150 Greenwood St., Lenexa, Kansas, on Wednesday, November 22. Friends may visit with the family at 9:30, prior to the service at 10:00. Cremation. Private interment at Forest Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of the donor's choice. Arrangements, Penwell-Gabel Funeral Home, Olathe Chapel. To leave a message for the family, visit www. PenwellGabel.com