It is with great sadness that we let the Pelican Sound community know of the passing of our sweet Marcella Holtz on December 30, 2024.
Marcy, as she was known to most, was the daughter of Joseph and Marcella VanLeuven and was born in Troy, New York. She was married to Carl Holtz, whom she dearly loved, for more than sixty years before his passing in February, 2022.
Marcy was a graduate of Watervliet High School and the University at Albany, SUNY, known at that time as Teachers College. Formerly a student and a cheerleader, she returned to her alma mater in Watervliet to teach Math and Science and to coach cheer for several years before she and Carl moved to Rochester, New York.
Marcy and Carl enjoyed many years in Rochester and were blessed with good friends and happy memories. Marcy was active in the local parish of St. Paul’s in Webster and was employed in administrative support capacities at a dentist’s office, an architectural firm and for the Diocese of Rochester where she shared her excellent administrative and organizational talents. She had a significant role in organizing and facilitating a diocesan wide synod in the late 1990s.
Having come first to Captiva for many years on vacation, Marcy and Carl came to know Southwest Florida and retired happily to Pelican Sound in 2000 to enjoy their retirement years together. They lived initially in the Oak Run neighborhood before moving to the Masters in 2003. They made many wonderful friends during their years at Pelican Sound and enjoyed golf, tennis, bridge, special dinners at the Club and more.
Throughout her life Marcy was active and engaged in shaping and contributing to the world around her. At Pelican Sound, Marcy was elected to the Board and also served as Secretary. She served on numerous committees including the Golf and Greens Committee, ARC and Sound Learnings. She also served as the NVR in the Masters. She enjoyed organizing group activities such as Monday night party bridge and, of special importance to her, the annual golf tournament fundraiser to benefit the girls and boys golf teams at Estero High School.
Marcy was an accomplished seamstress and crafter who gifted her many nieces, nephews and friends with beautifully and lovingly made items such as Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls and all sorts of personal apparel and home goods. She loved to travel with Carl and enjoyed many international trips with him over the years as well as trips to some of her favorite places in the United States including Maine, Colorado, Massachusetts (Cape Cod), Florida and Arizona. She had a keen intellect, keeping up to date with current events locally as well as globally. She was a skilled bridge player and enjoyed puzzles of all kinds.
Marcy cherished her many dear friends whom she was blessed with over the years, friends from Watervliet and upstate New York, friends from her years in Rochester and, during the last several decades, friends made at Captiva and at Pelican Sound. She was a loving wife and sister as well as a dear aunt to her many nieces and nephews. Marcy was very generous to friends and family and indeed to the broader community frequently giving to charities that were important to her.