Pilar (Rodriguez) Holik

Pilar Rodriguez Holik, born February 04, 1963, passed January 19, 2026, was a wonderful woman, a loyal friend, a loving wife, a loving mother.  She was a fierce strong woman who went through life at her own pace.  She came to the United States from Colombia at eighteen to pursue an education. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Applied Physics.  Her work in the biomedical field led her to a successful career.  She touched the lives of every woman in the world, as she was one of the people who found some of the last chromosome markers for the BRCA 1 gene.  Working in the lab, she would meet her husband and marry him a few years later.  She moved here to Massachusetts, where she and her husband settled down, and raised their son, who she loved fiercely.  In the last decade of her life, she became a Spanish teacher, teaching middle and high school children her maiden tongue that she loved so much.  One of her students drew the photo shown here, as a thank you, when she taught them. She passed peacefully with her husband of thirty-two years and her son in her arms.  As an immigrant, she achieved the American Dream.  She came from a desperate situation in her home country, achieved a higher education, married a loving husband, became a United States Citizen in Boston, Massachusetts, had a son, whom she got to raise to adulthood and send to college himself.  She became a proud citizen of the country she fought so hard to be in.  She is deeply loved by her family, survived by her son, Steven, her husband John, family and friends in the United States and Colombia.  While she will always be deeply missed, she is in a better place now, watching diligently over us.  In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of importance to the reader.  If wished, Pilar would have donated to Stroke Research, Alzheimer's research, animal charities and education access for all. 

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