Marilyn Harris Holland

Coral City

Marilyn Harris Holland, 91, was named Home to her Lord on Sunday, July 14, 2024. She was born to Verna (Swanson) and Preston Henry Harris at home in North Liberty. She was the second of five children, along with her older brother, Jack Harris.

Marilyn began elementary school at the age of five in a two-room school in “downtown” North Liberty. She learned to read in her first year of school and always believed that it gave her a good foundation for loving school. The family moved to Iowa City when she was eight and she attended Horace Mann School, followed by Central Junior High, graduating from City High with the class of 1950. She was very involved in extracurricular activities in high school and at one point her parents suggested that they might pitch a tent outside the school so she wouldn’t have to go so far to sleep and change.

After graduating, she attended the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Program in Radiologic Technology, where she graduated. She moved to Des Moines, where she worked in a downtown radiologist’s office and an orthopedic office. During this time, she met her future husband and the love of her life, Philip Holland of Collins, Iowa, who was attending Drake University. They were married on January 23, 1955. His company transferred him to Atlantic, Iowa, in 1961, where their daughter Janet Holland was born and Marilyn worked one day a week as a radiologist at Atlantic Memorial Hospital. In 1963, three weeks after their second child, Jay Holland, was born, they moved to the Iowa City area, where they remained.

Back in Iowa City, she earned a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in postsecondary education. She directed the Radiologic Technology program at Mercy Hospital for 17 years and then became program director at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 1981 until her retirement in 1999. She was very active in her field, nationally and internationally, serving as treasurer, editor, and president of the Iowa Society of Radiologic Technologists, regional director, president-elect, president, and past president of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, and chair of the board of directors of The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists, the certification arm of her field. She spoke at international meetings around the world and also traveled to and consulted at the Dhahran Medical Center in Saudi Arabia on numerous occasions.

She was very active in her children’s schools, serving as president of the Horace Mann and Shimek PTOs and also on the ICCSD Superintendent Advisory Committee. She also served on the City High Alumni Board. Marilyn was a member of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, where she served three terms as an elder, taught Sunday School, served on many committees, and co-organized a fellowship group for seniors at the church with Phil. Her community activities included serving on the Homeless Shelter Board when it was on North Gilbert St. and the Board of Directors of Ecumenical Towers for over 20 years.

Over the years, Marilyn served on the Gray Hawks Senior College Planning Committees, Mortar Board, Octagon Barn #722 Questers, Swedish Club of Iowa City, a memoir writing group, and six different bridge clubs in Iowa City.

She is survived by her children, Janet of North Liberty and Jay (Barb) of Indianola, IA; four granddaughters, Libby (Joe) Gardner, Laney (Matt) Guintard, Lexxy (Joe) Rhodes, and Lilly Holland (engaged to Logan Barker); four great-grandchildren, Jensen and Twyla Gardner and Charlotte and Greyson Rhodes; her brother David Harris (Pat) of Oxford and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Philip, her parents, her older brother Jack Harris and sisters-in-law Jean, Nadine and Amy, her brother Paul Harris, wife Amy and sister Donna Kennel, husband Gene.

A memorial service will be held at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, July 27, 2024. The funeral service will be held the following Saturday, August 3, at Collins Cemetery in Collins, Iowa at 1:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Philip Holland/Kiwanis Pediatric Chaplains Fund at the Center for Advancement (University of Iowa). To share a thought, memory or condolence, please visit the Gay & Ciha website at www.gayandciha.com.