Holly Sjordal, born April 12, 1940 to Clyde and Kay Fulleton, died November 18, 2024. Beloved wife to Steven Sjordal, mother to Kristen, Heidi, Janelle and Alison, grandmother to 15 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.  Holly was predeceased by her parents and by her grandson Andrew. She grew up in Aberdeen, South Dakota then relocated to Denver, Colorado with her husband Steve after spending the early years of her marriage in Minneapolis. She raised her family and lived the rest of her life in Colorado. Her brother Jerry lives in Idaho.

To the Greatgrandchildren of Holly Sjordal

Let's start at the ending. Your Great-grandma Holly died while you were still very young, and some of you hadn't even been born yet. A few of you will remember her, especially when you see pictures of her in her wheelchair or hospital bed with you smiling beside her. At the end of her life Grandma Holly had lots of difficulties. She needed help to do everything, and in the end, she even needed help eating. She had help from her children and grandchildren, and also Monique and Juanita, but most of all, day and night for years, from her husband Grandpa Steve.

Please understand, this isn't who she really was. Your great-grandma was an amazing and energetic woman who helped many other people. The last friend she helped was her neighbor Lois (who had no family to watch over her). She took care of her, did her book-keeping, took her on errands, and held her hand while she died. She did this for her own mom too, calling Great-great-grandma Kay every day to make sure she was okay, taking her to the grocery store every week, and to the doctor and to the hospital. She flew to Arizona to pack up the house of Great-great-grandpa Harold and Great-great-grandma Dorothy and brought them to Denver, and eventually moved them into the home she lived in with grandpa Steve.

During this time, she was also taking care of her daughters who were having babies and raising their children. Four daughters! Fifteen grandchildren! Three old people! And a busy husband, a big house, a yard, and don't forget about church and neighbors, friends and once in a while a little break to go to her favorite place, Glenwood Springs. She loved swimming in a pool, or lake or ocean, loved trees and swinging on her patio listening to bird songs, and had to have her bedroom window cracked open for fresh air even in winter. She was fascinated by elephants, and filled with affection for them.

Grandma Holly drove fast and held her steering wheel tight because she was always on her way somewhere: to a soccer game, a play, a concert, a basketball game, a rugby game, a gymnastics meet . . .  to watch someone cheer or dance or perform or compete . . . going to lessons, to the orthodontist, to the doctor, to the mall, taking Great-great-grandma Kay to the thrift store. She ran Grandpa Steve's dental practice for years, on top of wall-papering and weeding and making angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for all the birthdays. She spent hours proof-reading and typing school papers, teaching toddlers to swim, counseling her friends, praying for everybody (she kept a list of all her kids and grandkids because she prayed for them so often), driving to a faraway city to have an hour-long lunch with a grand-daughter, watching the Broncos, breaking into spontaneous dances with her husband when their song Nat King Cole's When I Fall in Love came on (and sometimes even showing her girls how she tap-danced when she was young). She was the best gift-giver in the family because she watched everyone so carefully and knew just what they liked.

Great-grandma Holly was "in love with love," and she was thrilled by the romances of her girls and grandchildren.  The great love of her life was Great-grandpa Steve. After they were married Holly met another great love of her life when she came to know Jesus and invited him into her heart. After that she was never alone, because she had a Friend who was always with her. She talked to Jesus a lot, about her joys and sorrows . . . she even talked with him in the middle of the night when she woke up with worries.

Great-grandma Holly was proud of her children and grandchildren and loved all of them, adoring her great-grandchildren, wishing she could hold them. She made up great stories for her grandchildren, like The Lion With Curlers In Its Mane and The Easter Chicken Who Laid Colorful Eggs.  Here is a sample of what her children and her grandchildren have to say about her:

• Grandma let us slide down the stairs in a sleeping bag with a crash pad at the bottom.

• Grandma listened to my problems and gave me really good advice.

• Grandma let us jump on the living room furniture playing "avoid the lava"

• Grandma always kept my favorite foods at her house.

• I cannot think of a time I asked for help when my parents didn't show up, without question, without conditions… just pure unconditional support.

• My mom sat on my sickbed when I was a little girl, and stroked my hair and said, "I wish I could be sick for you."

• She was strong and steadfast in praying for us,  even when she was scared for us or worried about us.

• Although she was very strong-minded and had strong opinions of her own, she could tolerate and discuss our differences.

• My mom taught me how to look at the 'glass half full', even in the worst situations.

• Grandma held me after a really hard soccer game and let me cry and cry.

• Grandma pushed herself to look at her world differently so she could understand me.

• She took us to find giant cardboard boxes so we could make playhouses in the backyard.

• She made animal shapes with pancake batter for Saturday morning breakfast.

• She put a hose through the kitchen window so she could add warm water in our kiddie pool in the backyard.

• Grandma was strong, caring and smart. She was selfless, loving, kind and funny!

She smiled and laughed with her children and grandchildren, listening to their joys and troubles for thousands of hours over the years. She could listen to anything, even if she didn't agree with it, and still love and love and love. She gave good advice (even if her children and grandchildren didn't always follow it).

She loved her husband Great-grandpa Steve with a fierce and devoted love.  She fell in love with him at first sight. When they were on their first date he told her, "Someone is going to marry you just to get to dance with you." Sometimes she showed her love by hollering in aggravation. Sometimes she snuggled close to him and told him he was great. Sometimes they laughed together with their kids so hard that Great-grandma Holly would squeal and not even be able to breathe. Great-grandpa Steve loved her too. He worked hard for many years to give her a home, and all the things a person needs in life. And in the end he cared for her every day and every night, helping her all the time even when it was hard. She told her daughter, "I know for sure how deeply he loves me now."

When she was a little girl in the 1940s, cutting out paper dolls in the backyard with her friend Mary, Holly said, "When I grow up I will marry a dentist and have four girls." And she did. Then, in the year before she died, she said "I want to die at home, with my girls around me, and a little Mentholatum for my nose. " And this is exactly what she did. And you, beautiful great-grandchildren, came to see her as she was laying in her house, getting ready to die. Your parents and grandparents and great-aunts and great-uncles can tell you the story. It was the remarkable death of a remarkable, loving, giving woman. You are so lucky to have a little piece of her inside you.