NEW SCOTLAND — Marilyn Holmberg was the kind of women who put a pool in her backyard although she herself couldn’t swim, just so the neighborhood kids could.

She truly enjoyed the community; she knew many generations and was aware of the goings on in the community, said her daughter Judy Fritz.

The town’s tax collector, for 16 years, Mrs. Marilyn Holmberg died Monday, July 11, 2005, while still holding office. She was 80.
"It’s marvelous for us that she died in office," said Mrs. Fritz. "She loved being the tax collector."

"She was a math person."

Fritz recalled her mother going over flash cards with her and her sister and often pulling other neighborhood kids aside to study the cards as well.

The Enterprise spoke with Mrs. Holmberg this spring as the town board was considering meshing the tax collector’s office with the clerk’s office. She told of how her health was failing, and how she wished she could run again in the spring, but that she was just not up to it.

A member of the Town of New Scotland Republican party, she was first elected in 1988.

Holmberg said this spring, that this past year, when she was ill, she had needed some help with fulfilling her duties, and that she appreciated her daughter working with her.

Mrs. Fritz said it was a wonderful experience to share with her mother toward the end of her life.

An interest in financing isn’t just something that Mrs. Holmberg picked up late in her life. During World War II she worked at the Albany Engineering Depot at the Port of Albany as the payroll clerk.

Mrs. Holmberg also worked as a beautician. She took classes and was certified and first worked at a salon in Albany. Then she ran a salon out of her home, cutting the hair of friends and the community members, Mrs. Fritz said. It was just another way that Mrs. Holmberg liked the challenge of learning and working with people.

Farm roots

Mrs. Holmberg was born in Albany and graduated from Bethlehem High School; she was the daughter of Jacob and Margaret Coons Klapp.

Mrs. Holmberg grew up on a farm on Feura Bush-Unionville Road. She told stories of the old days but also watched how things changed over the years, Mrs. Fritz said. Mrs. Holmberg was very aware of the political and physical changes of New Scotland, Mrs. Fritz said. She kept up-to-date with the zoning and tax situation, and water issue was a big concern of hers, her daughter said.

New Scotland’s deputy tax collector, who worked under Mrs. Holmberg, is Arlene Herzog.
"She ran the office well," Mrs. Herzog said, "it was nice and pleasant to work with her."

Her philosophy was that, if everyone helps everyone else, it will all work out well, Mrs. Herzog said.

Mrs. Holmberg was always very friendly and had a sense of humor, she said.
She was known for her quick one-liners; she’d say something off the cuff, which would make a person turn around out of surprise and say, "What did you say"," her comments where funny, Mrs. Herzog said.

She seemed to really enjoy seeing all the residents as they came in to pay their taxes, Mrs. Herzog said.
If a bill got lost, she said, then Mrs. Holmberg would say, "Oh, that’s the relative of so-and-so" and she would be able to track someone down.
"Any number I needed, I could call her up and she had it memorized," said Mrs. Fritz. Even up to a few weeks ago, her memory was sharp, said her daughter.

Nurturing

In a tribute, Mrs. Holmberg’s family wrote that she enjoyed crafts and homemaking.
Mrs. Fritz said that she and her sister had many memories of their mother crocheting dozens of afghans, "granny afghans," Mrs. Fritz said. She also made beaded and hooked rugs.

Mrs. Holmberg used to sew all of her daughters’ clothing, including their prom dresses, Mrs. Fritz said. Also, when the had dance recitals, Mrs. Fritz said, she remembers her mother making costumes for practically the whole troupe, along with a few other mothers.

The re-use of materials is something that Mrs. Fritz believes her mother carried with her from early farm life. Mrs. Fritz said she remembers going dump picking with her mother and one time they picked out beautiful round oak tables for just a few dollars.
"She liked hardy German meals and sit-down dinners," Mrs. Fritz said, something that society is now losing. "We always had a sit down dinner with a full-course meal."

Mrs. Holmberg’s mothering and hospitality crossed into the work place as well.
"She’d bring casseroles and sandwiches into the office," Mrs. Herzog said. She’d always make sure that everyone had something to eat, and have sodas on hand to hand out.

She’d pass food around, and made a really comfortable working environment. She helped foster socializing in town hall, taking food to the clerk’s office, bringing food to the zoning department, said Mrs. Herzog.
"She kept everyone in touch with each other instead of a division type of thing," Mrs. Herzog said. People in the back office would mosey to the front around noontime to see what she had put out, Mrs. Herzog said. Mrs. Holmberg really fostered camaraderie, she said.

* * * *

Mrs. Holmberg’s husband, Greger Holmberg, died before her. Her sister, Ann Boehlke, also died before her.

She is survived by her two daughters, Judith Ann Fritz and her husband, James, of Delmar, and Linda Jeanne Holmberg of Oakland, Calif.; her sisters ,Kathleen Frasier of Delmar, and Margaret Parker of Feura Bush.

She is also survived by her grandchilden, Kirsten Piotrowski and her husband, Michael, of Round Lake, Gretchen Fritz and her husband, Thomas Tantillo, of Mamaroneck, N.Y.; and Jennifer Fritz of Delmar, and by several nieces and nephews.

Her funeral service will be Saturday at 10 a.m. from the Daniel Keenan Funeral Home, 490 Delaware Ave, Albany and at 11 a.m. in Unionville Dutch Reformed Church. Calling hours will be at the funeral home on Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. Interment will be at the Holy Spirit Lutheran Cemetery in Glenmont.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, NE Region, 440 New Karner Road Albany, NY 12205.