Marjorie Ann Holbo (nee Reilly)

Marjorie Ann Holbo (Reilly), wife of Lyle Holbo, passed peacefully Friday, September 24th in the evening surrounded by her loving family and grandchildren. She was hospitalized most of the summer and received a diagnosis of JC virus just ten days before her passing.

Marjorie was born December 31, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois to Irish immigrant parents John Reilly and Marcella (Doyle) Reilly. She was the third child in the family and is preceded in death by her parents, older sister Mary and brother Martin (Ginny) Reilly and close cousins Cathy Bonk and Marie Kunstman.

Marjorie enjoyed her childhood in the tightly knit western Chicago neighborhood and at her parents’ lake house at Gages Lake. She visited her parents’ ancestral homeland and had many cousins both here and “at home.” Marjorie initiated a teaching career with the Skokie, IL, school district in the 60’s, taught at DOD Schools in Okinawa and Japan, before settling in the Cupertino, CA, school district where she met her future spouse, Lyle.

Marjorie and Lyle moved back to the far north Chicago suburbs shortly after their marriage in 1971 and started their family. After raising three girls to elementary school age, she returned to teaching, earned certification to teach children with behavior and learning disorders, and re-imagined her career as a special education teacher with the Waukegan, IL, school district. She spent many years and miles in the car driving her daughters to numerous dance classes, performances, movie extra jobs and more throughout the Chicagoland area.

In her retirement years she enjoyed shopping and lunching with friends, volunteering at a church resale shop, and spoiling her grandchildren. She loved her water aerobics friends and was always encouraging anyone and everyone to give it a try. A tireless swim cheerleader and stage grandma, she loved watching her grandchildren’s activities from the pool to the stage and immensely enjoyed traveling with her extended family and exploring new places. Whether it was a trip to Ireland with Cousin Marie, a family reunion in a cabin or a cruise on the high sea she loved exploring.

Lyle and Marjorie celebrated their 50th anniversary in July. She is survived by three daughters: Jennifer (Shawn) Meyer, Carrie, and Amy (Randal) Newkirk along with five grandchildren, Madeline, Evan and Allison Meyer and Reilly and Garrett Newkirk. Unplanned and decoded by her son-in-law Randy it is a neat coincidence that her grandchildren’s first initials can also form the name, MARGE and her grand kitty Annie is close to her middle name, Ann.

Always a teacher, Nana Marge read daily with her grandchildren and online during Covid, when they could not be together. She’d read a page, and they’d read a page…and she never lost patience after endless days of Captain Underpants and Harry Potter. Her favorite was Junie B. Jones and she believed it was the magic key for reluctant readers.

With her untimely passing, we can offer you this advice. Please take a moment to hug your loved ones, do not delay your plans, and when you can be near the water, please honor Marge with her most favorite activity – walking a beach. If she heard someone was going to be traveling near a body of water, she would tell them to “walk a beach” for her.

And if you want to celebrate and honor Marge, here are a few ideas:
Take a walk on a beach. Please send the family a photo of you doing this and we will collect them in a scrapbook. We would love to see how many beaches can be walked on in Marge’s honor. #WalkabeachforMarge

Donate to your local library, a neighborhood free library or a school library. Simply read a book to a child. Help a child to read and instill a love of learning.

Eat some Cheetos.

Eat some Peanut M&M’s.

Brush your teeth.