Teckla Larson Holmes, 90, nurse

Teckla Hildegaard Larson Holmes, a retired nurse, died on June 2, 2005, at the age of 90 years and 10 months.

Mrs. Holmes was the youngest of five children of Swedish immigrants Lars and Matilda “Tillie” Larson. She grew up in Grassflat, Pa., where she completed high school. She then went on to post-secondary school to train as a nurse in New York City.

Upon completion of her training, she moved to Stamford to be near her sister Edith who, with her husband Nils, was raising a family. She became active in the Swedish Congregational Church where she met a soldier about to be shipped out to New Guinea in World War II. Four years later she was married to Erwin Holmes, and they raised five children.

Mrs. Holmes had worked as a nurse at Norwalk Hospital before her retirement, and lived out her life in a rural section of Ridgefield. She attended the Church of Christ in Danbury and tended to her gardens, home, and family.

“Teckla was a deeply devout Christian,” her family said. “She never pushed her beliefs on anyone but quietly and resolutely displayed Christian compassion in every aspect of her life. She was a model of what Christ meant when he said, ‘Whatsoever you do for the least of these you do unto me.’ As a nurse, mother, wife, aunt, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, Teckla personified Christianity.”

Her daughters-in-law often said that “Teckla was truly a mother to them and was just the opposite of those known as suffering from the infamous ‘mother-in-law-syndrome.’ She was kind and benevolent to everyone she met, no matter the race, religion or political leaning.”

Mrs. Holmes is survived by her immediate family, Karleen Holmes; David and Karen Holmes and their children, Paige and Peter Holmes-Selby, and their son Max, and Corinne Ashley Holmes; Thomas and Denise Holmes and their children, Lauren, Emily and Rebecca; and the many first generation nieces and nephews, Emil Lundin, Daniel Lundin, Peter Lundin and Sara Lundin-Sabo, Dick Larson and Joel Larson, and Kenneth Larson as well as all the greatnieces and -nephews and cousins in America and Sweden.

Friends may call on Friday, June 10, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Bouton Funeral Home, 31 West Church Street, Georgetown.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, June 11, at 9:30 a.m. at Branchville Cemetery, Florida Road, followed at 11 by a memorial service and lunch reception in Danbury at the Danbury Church of Christ, 90 Clapboard Ridge Road.