Carolyn J. Holmgrain, a beloved mother, grandmother and a friend to many, passed away Thursday, January 30, 2025, at Friendship Manor, where she was blessed to spend her last twelve years, and was her primary charity work as a King's Daughter. She was a member of the Silver Cross circle, received a King's Daughters Life Member Award, and led the 43 Rock Island King's Daughters circles when Friendship Manor was established.  She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

Carolyn maintained a lifelong commitment to community service and education. She was co-chair of Longfellow School's efforts to protect the forests along Rock Island's eastern border and replant the city after the Dutch Elm Disease stripped 10,000 trees that lined Rock Island's streets. She was awarded Rotary International's first Beatification Award for her efforts. As president of Friends of Long View Park, she organized the effort to retain a swimming pool in the park, and for several years, she programmed a Sunday afternoon series of concerts and speakers in the park. She was a member of the Aledo's Natural Area Guardians, Rock Island County Historical Society, where she organized luncheon programs; she volunteered in the Rock Island Library Resale Shop and was a Girl Scout troop leader. Carolyn was a devoted member of P.E.O. since 1965, which provides scholarships and education for women. As a student at Augustana College, she worked at Northwestern Bell Telephone and Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric Company and graduated from the college. She loved her Augustana sorority, Sigma Pi Delta, and led the reorganization of the sorority in the 1980s. She was Editorial Assistant for Family Therapy News, the International Family Counseling newspaper, for a decade. In retirement with her husband, she traveled to all fifty states, 35 countries, and cruised extensively to five continents.

Born in New Brunswick, Missouri, Carolyn was the eldest daughter of Clifford and Delora Whitcomb and was a guiding light to her sister Cheryl Ann Enderle Pople. She grew up during the Great Depression and World War II, experiences that shaped her lifelong values of resilience and compassion. Predeceased in 2024 by her husband of 67 years, Ardo C. Holmgrain, Carolyn was devoted to her family, encouraging her children and grandchildren to express their personal gifts. She is survived by her son Kent Holmgrain of East Moline, daughter Ardith Holmgrain of New York City, her twin grandchildren Sabina and Alexander Sas, nieces Julia Enderle Petersen and Lisa Enderle Finlayson, and nephew Scott Enderle. Her Christian burial service will be private at Chippiannock Cemetery in Rock Island. Her life on this planet is a testament to a consummate life well lived. Memorial donations can be made in her name to Augustana College or Immanuel Lutheran Church.