Dale Holloway Obituary

Dale Whitney Holloway of Portland, Oregon passed away on June 18, 2025, at the age of 81
surrounded by those who adored her. She was born on October 4 th, 1943, in Salt Lake City, Utah to
Dawn and James Whitney Sr. She is survived by her husband of 56 years, David Holloway, daughter
Sarah Holloway, son Jeremy (Jerry) Holloway, brothers-in-law James Holloway and David Dobak,
and sister-in-law Barbara Patton. Her younger brother James (Skip) Whitney passed away earlier
this year. Dale received her B.A from Illinois Wesleyan and an M.A. in German Literature from the
University of Chicago.
Dale was known for her huge heart and her boundless generosity, leading the Student Support
Services department at Lewis & Clark College for over 35 years. Often referred to as a "mom away
from mom" by grateful students, Dale (with the support of her wonderful staff) supported students
with learning differences, physical disabilities, neurodivergence, from different cultural backgrounds,
multi-language speakers, and other historically marginalized folks, ensuring they were provided with
adaptive services and ADA-accessible accommodations that set them up for success, as well as
kindness and compassion when students needed a sympathetic shoulder to cry on. She established
several amazing programs pairing college students with middle- and high schoolers to inspire young
people with learning differences to believe in themselves and pursue higher education, and she set
up a complete Braille printing site from scratch for students from the visually impaired community.
Throughout the years she also provided a warm and loving place in her NE Portland home for L&C
students who couldn't go home for vacations or over the holidays. Many of these students have
become close family friends and were still in touch with Dale right up until the day she passed.
As a mother, "Sweet Mama" was relentlessly supportive of both Sarah and Jerry's professional
endeavors and personal passions, providing a balance of practical guidance with enthusiastic
cheerleading. She would stay up late nights discussing Thomas Mann and Dostoevsky with Jerry
and never missed a single opening performance of any of Sarah's puppetry productions. As the
matriarch of the Holloway Household, Dale orchestrated decades of epic camping trips featuring
fabulous meals and as many home comforts as possible; lavished love on many a pampered cat
and dog; maintained a beautiful backyard garden; and gifted family and friends with renowned
Christmas treats such as her famous English Toffee. She was also her husband's number one fan,
often remarking how lucky she was to have a concert pianist serenading her as she maintained an
always-bustling household.
We would like to thank the staff at Family Resource Home Care and Home Instead for their
extraordinary care of Dale as her health deteriorated from a degenerative condition over the last
five+ years. We are so grateful for the loving, compassionate, and skilled caregivers who helped
keep her fed, clean, safe, and entertained, and we deeply appreciate the Serenity Hospice staff who
helped make her final weeks as comfortable and pain-free as possible. You were our angels, and we
will never forget your amazing support.
Dale was passionate about helping lift up those who face barriers to becoming their best selves. In
lieu of flowers, we encourage those who loved Dale to donate to Scholarships/Financial Aid at Lewis
& Clark College or the International Dyslexia Association of Oregon where she volunteered her time
and expertise for many years.
A Celebration of Life will be held on the Lewis & Clark campus at the Agnes Flanagan Chapel on
Sunday, August 17th. The service will be held at 2pm, followed by a reception in the Diane Gregg
Pavilion. Invitations are open to everyone; please RSVP to Sarah at [email protected].
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Dale, please visit our floral store.