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Eleanor Sargent Holland was born in Portland, Maine on August 28, 1921. Her father, Rupert S. Holland, held a degree in law from Harvard and published numerous historical novels on such topics as pirates, King Arthur, and the Arabian Nights. Her mother, Margaret Lyon Holland, received a Bachelors from Smith College and Pembrook University, a Masters from Brown, and pursued postgraduate work at Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania. 

 

The Holland family at some point moved from Maine to Pennsylvania, from which Eleanor enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in July 1943. Her elder brother, Pvt. Richard L. Holland, was tragically killed in active duty in Germany in 1945. He is buried at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium. Within weeks of the German surrender, she accepted a position overseas with the Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (OMGUS).

 

Following her discharge from the WAC in March 1946, Holland returned to the United States and lived in Pennsylvania. She married Dr. Walter John Odronic, a professor of Japanese Literature and History at Bucknell University, and the couple had two children together. 

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We do not know a lot about Eleanor Odronic's life post-war, except that she worked for two years, from 1967-1969, as a first-grade teacher at North Ward Elementary School, Lewisburg, PA. 

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On March 3rd 1969, at the age of 47, Eleanor Holland Odronic passed away from a long illness. She is buried in Lewisburg, PA. 

 

The Foundation is very interested in learning more about Eleanor Holland’s life, as well as her military service as a Monuments Woman. If you have any information, please contact abottinelli@monumentsmenfoundation.org.