In Sacramento, November 15, 2015 after a long and brave struggle with leukemia.
Born October 6, 1953 in Palo Alto to Alfred W. “Bob” Holst and Evelyn Rose Doucette. Rebecca enjoyed a happy childhood in the South Bay Area and had fond memories of her home and school days in New Almaden.
She is survived by her loving husband, Tom, with whom she just celebrated 30 years of marriage, her sons, Kevin and Eric, new daughter-in-law Leah, and 4 month old granddaughter, Lydia; also by her father and devoted sister Barbara Bartels and many nieces and nephews.
Rebecca had a smile a mile wide. Her greatest characteristic was her charm. She had that wonderful gift of being able to strike up a conversation with a total stranger and make an instant friend.
She had a strong work ethic beginning at a very early age working for her father’s printing business. For the last 30 years she worked as a legal secretary/paralegal/legal assistant, most recently for the firm of Webb & Tapella where she leaves many dear co-workers. She was a member of the St. Thomas More Legal Society. She also worked with her husband at Pacific Energetics, Inc., an oil and gas lease acquisition company of which she was a corporate officer.
Education was of great importance to her as she not only provided for her sons’ schooling from kindergarten through college at Jesuit schools but also served for several years, teasing that she was the token non-Catholic on the St. Ignatius School Board. She will be remembered as the cheerleader at all her sons’ sporting events and as the pickle juice queen.
An avid reader she loved her local library and was a devoted Janeite reading and re-reading the novels of Jane Austen. She liked nothing better after an exhausting work-week than to curl up on the couch and watch again the BBC adaptations of Austen’s novels. She was an early member of the Sacramento Branch of the Jane Austen Society.
Rebecca loved travel and fine dining and among her most memorable trips was being married in Salzburg, Austria and a month-long honeymoon through Europe.
The family acknowledges the wonderful care Rebecca received during her long struggle from the staff of UCD Health System and in particular from those certain nurses (you know who you are) both at UCD and the unofficial “nurses’ advisory council”.
After many years as a practicing “closet Catholic” Rebecca fully embraced the faith being baptized in July of this year. Friends are invited to attend a Rosary service at W. F. Gormley & Sons, 2015 Capitol Ave. Tuesday November 24 at 6:30 PM and or a mass celebrating her life at St. Ignatius Church, 3235 Arden Way Wednesday November 25 at 10 AM.
In lieu of flowers remembrances may be made in her memory to some of the causes dearest to her heart: St. Ignatius Parish School, 3245 Arden Way, Sacramento, CA 95825; Arden-Dimick Branch of Sacramento Public Library, 891 Watt Ave., Sacramento, CA 95864; Sacred Stones Project, New Clairvaux Abbey, 26240 7th St., Vina, CA 96092 or Jane Austen Society North America (JASNA), Greater Sacramento Branch, 6030 Steadman Place, Elk Grove, CA 95758.
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