Beryl Hollar celebrating 107 years
Beryl Hollar, nee Hylton, must certainly have greatly honoured her parents, James and Mercilina Hylton as, on last month, she celebrated her 107th birthday, surrounded by many members of her family, and close friends.
Born in 1897, in Linstead, St Catherine, Hollar first attended Miss Jeffrey-Smith’s Preparatory School in Linstead, St Catherine, from which, at the age of ten she won a scholarship to Hampton Girl’s School in St Elizabeth. At Hampton, she excelled, not only in the classroom, but on the sports field and stage, playing a prominent part in the school’s Hockey and cricket programmes, as well as in such drama productions as the musical, The Mikado.
On completion of her secondary education, the young Hylton enrolled in a Commercial Course on the completion of which she got a job with Samuel & Samuel, a firm of lawyers. She worked with that firm until she met and, in 1924, married her lifelong partner, Dr Francis Gerald “Teddy” Hollar, a dentist, who practised at 53 Church Street in Kingston.
The Hollars resided first in Collins Green, then on Upper Musgrave Avenue in St Andrew. There, they raised their three children: a son, Gerald, who followed his father into the field of dentistry; and two daughters, Elsa (now deceased), and Audrey, who lives with her family in Trinidad.
Hollar was deeply involved with religious and social work, primarily through the Lyndurst Methodist Church, of which she was a founding member, Class Leader and staunch member of the Women’s League. The work of the Salvation Army was also included in her calling, and she played a leading role in that organization’s Women’s Auxiliary, regularly collecting and selling used clothes and furniture to assist in the Army’s many outreach programmes.
In spite of her many activities, Hollar found time to exercise yet another of her passions – gardening, and her garden was always a place of beauty and tranquility. She drove her car well into her eighties, regularly transporting herself and friends to meetings and other functions, remaining active in these pursuits well past her ninetieth year.
Travelling occasionally to Canada, the United States and England to visit relatives and friends, Hollar often visited Trinidad to spend time with her daughter, Audrey, son-in-law, Dr Million McDowell, and 3 children. She now has a total of 9 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren, who are her pride and joy.
In recent years, Mrs Hollar has lived in Mandeville with her son, Gerald, and his wife, Irene; and was surprised , on February 5 this year, with a birthday party in her honour given at the home of Dr and Mrs Barry Wade.
