Eleanor B. Holtzman, Dauphin County's first woman register of wills and clerk of Orphans Court, was remembered for her sunny disposition as well as her dedication to those duties. Holtzman, 85, of Harrisburg, who was prominent in county Republican circles, died Sunday in Harrisburg Hospital. She retired in 1984 from the county courthouse, where she served four terms as register of wills and clerk of Orphan's Court in the 1970s and 1980s. Former Dauphin County President Judge Lee F. Swope, who worked closely with Holtzman on Orphan's Court cases, called her a "commendable public servant" and "a great asset to the court." "She was industrious, very conscientious . . . a great help to me," Swope added. "I never saw her [with a facial expression] other than smiling or laughing. It was a pleasure to work with her." "She was a person I always had the highest regard for," said former county Prothonotary Robert A. Farina. "She was always a lady and always provided the best possible service to the public. She was a real friend. I'll miss her." "She was a tremendous lady," said County Commissioner Russell L. Sheaffer, a former county clerk of courts. "She'll be missed by all of her friends. She was a very, very wonderful lady." A Kittanning native, Holtzman was an American Red Cross volunteer at Harrisburg Hospital and a member of Bible Baptist Church, Shiremanstown, and the Lower Paxton Businesswomen's Association. Surviving are two sisters, Dorethea Gerber of Elizabethtown and Thelma Speidel of North Carolina; a brother, Lawrence Byron of Elizabethtown; two grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. Memorial services will be held at noon Thursday in Hoover Funeral Home and Crematory, Linglestown. Burial will be in East Harrisburg Cemetery. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to noon Thursday in the funeral home. Memorial donations may be made to her church, 201 W. Main St., Shiremanstown 17011.

The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, PA), Wednesday, December 29, 1999

bio info courtesy of Cwin