Mary Selfridge Holt

life story

Mary Selfridge Holt

We miss you Mom!

About Mary

Mary Selfridge Holt, age 92, died peacefully at her home in Eden Prairie, MN on June 18, 2025. Family members were at her side. Surely, Herb, husband of 70 years who preceded her in death by three months, was waiting to give her a hug.

The third of four children, Mary was born to Frank Ford & Helen Adams Selfridge on September 2, 1932. Frank was an amateur photographer. He took an award winning photo of two year old, curly blond haired Mary that was published in the New York Times in 1934.

She was married in Highland Park, IL to a fellow Highland Park grad (four years her senior) Herbert E. Holt, Jr on June 26, 1954. In 1961, they moved their family of five to Fairhomes Lane in Deephaven, MN where the family grew to eight. Fairhomes Lane was an idyllic place to grow up. Mary’s famous “whistle” would bring her kids home from the farthest places in the neighborhood, and everyone knew to yell at the Holt kids that it was time to go home for dinner! She was a great and dedicated Mom.

Mary loved to swim - she would frequently reflect with fondness about her childhood summers at Long Lake. In Deephaven, Mary would take her kids and their friends to Robinson’s Bay every day in the summer to swim. She would be doing laps just outside the boundary rope of the swim area while the kids played.

Friendships and volunteering were important to Mary. She belonged to many book and knitting clubs, was a Friend of the Library, was an officer/member of chapter CQ/PEO sorority, volunteered for many years at the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center and was one of the organizers of Lakewind’s Coop. She loved getting together with friends and was even part of a pickle-making group that lasted from 1984 to 2018.

Mary was preceded in death by parents Helen and Frank, siblings John (Ingrid), Jane (Walter), and Bill (Margaret), and daughter Elizabeth. Survived by children Sally, Peter (Debbie), Tom (Anita), Anja, and Mike (Wis), grandchildren Laura, Charlie, Katie, Sarah, Jennifer, Alec, Chad, Tryggvi, Anders, and 7 great grandchildren.