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Geneva M. Starrett Holton

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Birth	:	10 May 1904 Athol, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA
Death	:	26 Mar 2004 South China, Kennebec County, Maine, USA
Burial	:	Chadwick Hill Cemetery, China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate	:	44.3758011, -69.5727997
Description	:	Geneva Holton Presented With Boston Post Cane Geneva May Starrett Holton was declared the oldest citizen in the town of China and was given the town's Boston Post Cane on Wednesday, March 24, by town officials. She was thrilled to receive the cane. She would have been 100 years of age on May 10, 2004. She felt she had accomplished everything she wanted and passed away on Friday, March 26, 2004, at peace. Her parents, Aurie Austin Starrett and Ernest Starrett, grew up in South China, and they were married in 1902 in the same house where their only daughter,... Read More	Geneva Holton Presented With Boston Post Cane Geneva May Starrett Holton was declared the oldest citizen in the town of China and was given the town's Boston Post Cane on Wednesday, March 24, by town officials. She was thrilled to receive the cane. She would have been 100 years of age on May 10, 2004. She felt she had accomplished everything she wanted and passed away on Friday, March 26, 2004, at peace. Her parents, Aurie Austin Starrett and Ernest Starrett, grew up in South China, and they were married in 1902 in the same house where their only daughter, Geneva, lived. After their wedding, her parents moved to Athol, Massachusetts, where Geneva was born and where her father worked for 53 years in the Starrett Tool Company Factory founded by his uncle, a successful inventor and businessman. While Geneva was a student in the Athol Public Schools, a Latin teacher told her parents that she should go on to college and, in the fall of 1923, she enrolled at Simmons College in Boston. Her son, Wilfred Holton, said, "She must have made a great first impression on her college classmates when she arrived on campus in a chauffeured limousine provided by the daughter of the Starrett Tool Company's founder." During her college years, Geneva earned money by tatting, a skill she learned from her Grandmother Austin. She tatted lace edging for fancy tablecloths. Each week during college she packed up her dirty clothes and mailed them home to her mother, who returned them a few days later all washed, dried and folded. Geneva was the first member of her family to graduate from college, and she earned a degree in home economics. She then taught school in Arlington, Massachusetts, for 13 years. At one time, she taught cooking lessons to a group of boys during the lunch period. As a single woman, she shared an apartment with friends in a building across the street from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1940, Geneva married Chandler Holton, who had been her brother's roommate in graduate school at Harvard. She then moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where her husband and brother taught mathematics at Georgia Tech for many years. Geneva taught Sunday School and made many friends through her church. Across the years, Geneva kept close ties with her relatives back in China, Maine, including the Austin, Starrett, Mosher, Masse and Jones families. In the 1920s her father had built a cottage on Austin family land along China Lake; the cottage is still owned by her brother and enjoyed by his family, including three great-grandsons. When Chandler retired in 1973, he and Geneva moved back to China where they bought the brick house in which her parents were married. They became very active in local affairs. The house had been built in 1846 by Ebenezer Meigs, using bricks made from clay found on the property. After Chandler's death in late 1980, Geneva lived alone until recently when two young cousins and several local women have cared for her. She has been looked after for 19 years by Terrie Brann, the daughter of a cousin, and for six years by Joann Austin, the daughter of another cousin. Others who have helped are June Pullen, Barbara Hansen and Amy Buck. Home medical visits by Dr. Bob Hayes were a vital part of her happiness and comfort until her death. The town officials who came to present Geneva with the Boston Post Cane were Daniel L'Heureux, Town Manager, and Selectmen Irene L. Belanger, Neil Farrington and Joann Austin. Geneva was very pleased when her grandson, Robert Holton, and his wife, Angela, arrived from New York with their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Katherine "Katie" Geneva Holton. Geneva's son, Wilfred Holton, who teaches sociology at Northeastern University in Boston, showed me samples of snowflakes his mother had tatted. "She has made thousands of these," he said. "They grace Christmas trees all across our country." When I talked to Geneva about her tatting, I mention that tatting might be a lost art. "I hope not!" she said. "I've already taught three people how to tat. You just have to learn how to pull up that one thread." Maybe that is a skill young Katie might some day learn. ------------------------- Obituary: GENEVA MAY STARRETT HOLTON SOUTH CHINA -- Geneva May Starrett Holton, 99, passed away on Friday, March 26, 2004, at her home in South China.She was born in Athol, Mass., on May 10, 1904. Her parents, Aurie Austin Starrett and Ernest Starrett, grew up in South China and were married in 1902 in the house where their only daughter lived for the last 30 years of her life. Geneva grew up in Athol because her father worked for 53 years in the Starrett Tool Co. factory that was founded by his uncle, a successful inventor and businessman who also came from South China. Geneva attended the Athol public schools. A high school Latin teacher told her parents that she should go to college. In the fall of 1923, she made a strong first impression on classmates at Simmons College in Boston by arriving in a chauffeured limousine provided by the daughter of the Starrett Tool Co. founder. Geneva earned spending money at college by selling lace edging, made by tatting, for fancy tablecloths, a skill learned from her grandmother Austin. Every week of her college years, Geneva packed up her dirty clothes and mailed them to her mother in Athol; a few days later they would come back washed, dried and folded. Geneva was the first member of her family to graduate from college when she earned a degree in home economics at Simmons College in 1927. She then taught in the junior high and high school levels in Arlington, Mass., for 13 years. At one point, high-school boys approached her about cooking lessons during their lunch period and she taught an unofficial class for them. During these years as a single working woman, Geneva shared apartments with friends, starting in a building across the street from MIT in Cambridge, Mass. When Geneva was a girl and a young woman, she and her family maintained close ties with China and their many relatives there in the Austin, Starrett, Mosher, Masse and Jones families. In the 1920s, her parents built a cottage on China Lake on Austin family land. That cottage is still owned by her brother and enjoyed by his family, including three great-grandsons. In 1940, Geneva married Chandler Holton, who had been her brother's roommate in graduate school at Harvard. She then moved to Atlanta, Ga., where her husband and brother taught mathematics at Georgia Tech for many years. Their son, Wilfred, was born in 1941. In Atlanta, Geneva taught Sunday school and made many friends through her church. She spent several summers in South China after her father retired and her parents bought the 1840 "brick house" where they had been married. In 1973, Chandler Holton retired, and he and Geneva moved to South China. They added a large family room to the brick house and became active in local affairs. Geneva became famous for the thousands of lace snowflakes she tatted over the years that grace Christmas trees in Maine and all over the United States. After Chandler's death in the late 1980s, she lived alone until recently, when two young cousins and several local women cared for her. In 2004, Geneva Holton became the oldest person in the town of China. In March, the town's Boston Post Cane was presented to her and four generations of Holtons gathered: Katherine (Katie) Geneva Holton, age 112 years; her parents, Rob and Angela; her grandfather, Wilfred Holton; and her great-grandmother, Geneva. Kissing Katie brought smiles to Geneva's face on this final joyous reunion.

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Geneva M. Starrett Holton's memorial?
Geneva M. Starrett Holton's memorial is located at: Chadwick Hill Cemetery, China, Kennebec County, USA.
When did Geneva M. Starrett Holton death?
Geneva M. Starrett Holton death on 26 Mar 2004 in South China, Kennebec County, Maine, USA
Where are the coordinates of the Geneva M. Starrett Holton's memorial?
Latitude: 44.3758011
Longitude: -69.5727997

Family Members:

Parent

Ernest Rosewell Starrett

(1876 - 1960)

Aurie May Austin Starrett

(1877 - 1963)

Spouse

Chandler Hausman Holton

(1907 - 1985)

Siblings

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Chadwick Hill Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3758011, -69.5727997

2. Jones Cemetery
South China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3946700, -69.5764100

3. South China Village Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3957062, -69.5743332

4. Weeks Mills Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3590060, -69.5428940

5. Whitehouse Cemetery
Vassalboro, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3843619, -69.6165384

6. Twenty-Rod Cemetery
Windsor, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3441640, -69.5844020

7. Nelson Road Cemetery
Vassalboro, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3918600, -69.6133000

8. Dyer Hill Cemetery
Windsor, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3450012, -69.5914001

9. North Windsor Cemetery
Windsor, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3418500, -69.5819100

10. Clark Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4161263, -69.5711823

11. Deer Hill Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3671989, -69.5132980

12. Haskell Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4178009, -69.5496979

13. Dirigo Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4056015, -69.5205994

14. Dudley Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4058700, -69.5205000

15. Gray Family Burial Lot
South China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3645406, -69.5054637

16. Windsor Neck Cemetery
Windsor, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3278008, -69.5494003

17. Morrill-Bragg Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4255981, -69.5888977

18. Center Vassalboro Baptist Church Cemetery Extensio
Vassalboro, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4091028, -69.6303889

19. Center Vassalboro Baptist Church Cemetery
Vassalboro, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4097080, -69.6300870

20. Lakeshore Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4278400, -69.5417200

21. Cross Hill Cemetery
Vassalboro, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3877600, -69.6516880

22. Friends Cemetery
China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4407997, -69.5513992

23. Friend's Churchyard Cemetery
South China, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.4369000, -69.5281000

24. Portela Cemetery
Windsor, Kennebec County, USA
Coordinate: 44.3089850, -69.5364060