Mary Kimble Holden

This obituary was lovingly prepared by the family

Mary Kimble Holden, of Covington, Georgia passed away on October 26th, 2024. She was born in Morgantown, West Virginia on February 20th, 1945 to Virginia and Clarence Kimble. Raised in Morgantown alongside her three siblings, Mary Katherine loved playing sports and being outside, her mom’s weekly baking day and getting to spend time with her cousin, Mary Ellen. Mary Katherine graduated from Morgantown High School and later the University of West Virginia with a degree in physical education. 

She began her career as a first-grade teacher at McAdenville Elementary in McAdenville, North Carolina and taught for many decades in North and South Carolina, West Virginia and Georgia. Mary finished her career as the Athletic Director and PE/Health teacher at Newton High School in Covington, GA retiring in 2005. 

Mary and Harry met while both living outside Charlotte, North Carolina. Always the active participant, Mary and Harry’s first date was a tennis match. They married on July 6th, 1974 at Riverside United Methodist Church in Morgantown, West Virginia. Mary and Harry enjoyed riding motorcycles and even treating some of her students to rides in the school parking lot (it was the ‘70s). They raised their sons, Eric and Blair, in Martinsburg, West Virginia, Aiken, South Carolina and settled in Conyers, Georgia.

Mary and Harry, alongside friends and family, enjoyed the last twenty years traveling and camping everywhere from Montreal to Key West, from Kitty Hawk to Los Angeles, from Germany to Puerto Rico and a lot of destinations in between. 

Never one to slow down, she loved walking and jogging daily and ran the Peachtree Road Race multiple times. After retirement, Mary volunteered teaching aerobics at assisted living facilities and led an exercise class to fellow church members at First United Methodist Church in Covington. This stamina helped “Grandma” to keep up with her four grandchildren that she loved dearly and adored greatly.

Mary is preceded in death by her brother, Mike Kimble. Mary is survived by her husband, Harry Holden, her sons, Eric (Elizabeth) and Blair (Emily), her grandchildren, Maggie, Lucy, Carmen and Freya, her sister, Nancy Wilkins, her sister, Linda Kimble, and many nieces, nephews and extended family. 

Donations can be made in Mary’s honor to hurricane relief through Project Hope or to Alzheimer’s research through the Georgia Alzheimer’s association.  

You are invited to join the family after the service at Amici on the Square at 1116 College Avenue from 1-3 pm for lunch and celebrating the life of Mary.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mary Kimble Holden, please visit our floral store.