Please join us as we honor Mom with a memorial service at 2:00 pm on Friday, June 7, 2019 at Colesville United Methodist Church at 52 Randolph Rd, Silver Spring, MD.

Afterwards, please join us for a toast and casual outdoor reception at Valley Mill Special Park (E Randolph Rd, Colesville, MD) immediately following.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be sent to METAvivor metastatic breast cancer research (https://www.metavivor.org/).

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Donna Caywood Holt, beloved wife of Gary Eldon Holt, of Laurel, MD, passed away on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 after a 21-year-long battle with breast cancer. She was 74 years old.

Donna was born October 16, 1944 in Little Rock, Arkansas, the oldest of three children of William and Alice Caywood. Donna grew up in Silver Spring, MD and spent her summers as an outdoor camp counselor, riding horses and swimming at the pool with her brothers William Caywood, Jr. and Curtis Caywood.

After graduating from Sherwood High School, Donna ventured away from home to earn her undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education. She then continued her education at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, where she earned a graduate degree in Health and Physical Education in 1968.

During her college years, Donna developed her love for music and the guitar. She was in an ensemble, the Candle Lighters and later, the Four-Fifths, where she enjoyed singing and playing her beloved Gibson acoustic guitar.

After graduate school, Donna settled in Maryland with her husband, Gary Holt, and began her family, dedicating herself to her children and teaching them her love for athletics, music and competition. Donna was a life-long athlete enjoying swimming, sailing, bicycling, tennis, and both snow and water skiing.

Donna enjoyed a very successful career as a Tupperware sales consultant, and as a leader of her sales team was able to help other women in making impactful changes in their lives.

Always a nurturer, she returned to school and earned her Registered Nurse designation in 1994 and later worked as a High School nurse where she was beloved by all the students. Working at the school also allowed her to have her summers off so she could swim, water ski and sail during the warm months.

Donna was a competitor in everything that she did. She competed in several triathlons including the IronGirl Triathlon multiple times, even after her original breast cancer diagnosis.

She loved the arts and was an avid collector of pottery and enjoyed attending craft-fairs. Later she volunteered with her husband as an usher at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, MD. She enjoyed chatting with the patrons, and then watching all of the top Broadway shows and musical acts.

Donna will be remembered as a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, aunt and friend to many. Her love for adventure and sports will continue to live on through her family and the legacy she created for so many. Donna had a vibrant and colorful personality. She always enjoyed being near or on the water and visiting with family and friends. She made friends wherever she was and was a good friend to many. 

Donna was predeceased by her father, William Caywood, Sr. She is survived by her husband, Gary Holt; her mother, Alice Caywood of Gettysburg, PA; her son, Brian Holt (children Savanna and Griffin) of Laurel, MD; her daughters, Christy Lausch (husband, Brian, and children Anna and Benjamin) of Mount Airy, MD, and Lauren King (husband, Roger, and children Madeline and Wolfgang) of Whitefish, MT; her brother, William Caywood, Jr. (wife, Beth, and children Michael and Catie); and her brother Curtis Caywood (wife Nattalie, and children Candance, Christopher and Sean).

Please join us as we honor Mom with a memorial service at 2:00 on Friday, June 7, 2019 at Colesville United Methodist Church on Randolph Road in Silver Spring, MD. 

Afterwards, please join us for a toast and casual outdoor reception at Valley Mill Special Park (E Randolph Rd, Colesville, MD) immediately following.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be sent to METAvivor metastatic breast cancer research (https://www.metavivor.org/).