Valda Holleman Carter
We celebrate the life of Valda Holleman Carter, born in Rapid City, South Dakota, on June 3rd, 1937, to Clarence Holleman and Vera Emma Worrall.
Valda graduated from Canoga Park High School in 1955, Northwestern University in 1959 with a B.A. in Theater and completed her Master’s in Communication at San Francisco State University in 1981.
She lived in Tiburon for nearly 50 years until she gently passed away after living with Alzheimer’s at 82 on July 10th, 2019, surrounded by loved ones.
Valda taught drama and English to several thousand Marin teens over the years at San Rafael and Terra Linda high schools to share her love of the written and spoken word. Surrounded by volumes of plays and novels, her personal library provided endless inspiration. She pursued her beloved acting career at night with her stage name, Valda Claire, performing with the San Francisco Lamplighters, Ross Valley Players, The Masquers and many more on stage as well as film contributions.
World travelers, Valda and her husband, Ted, spent summers and retirement on adventures with friends around the globe to celebrate the art, culture, cuisine, and languages of our neighbors on planet Earth.
Valda was an active community member with the Belvedere-Tiburon Library and served on the Emeritus Curriculum Committee at College of Marin. A lifelong learner, she continued to take classes well into her 70s and loved to relax with a good mystery and some dark chocolate.
Twice a breast-cancer survivor, she said a long goodbye with Alzheimer’s, first demonstrating symptoms in 2012. She remained at home cared for by her family and angelic caregivers.
Valda is survived by her husband of 46 years, Ted Carter; their daughter, Vanessa; sons Gregory and Christopher; and grandchildren Colin (28), Griffin (22), Molly (18), Mack (16), and Westley (5 months).
The family will celebrate Valda at the Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake, Ross, CA 94957, on Friday, July 19th at 11am in the Garden Room.
Donations in honor of Valda may be sent to:
The Memory and Aging Center at UCSF
(include MAC Fund B1871 in the memo),
UCSF Foundation Lockbox 45339,
San Francisco, CA 94145-0339
or online at makeagift.ucsf.edu/brain.
or
Alzheimer’s Association,
4340 Redwood Hwy, Suite D314,
San Rafael, CA 94903
or online at act.alz.org/goto/vanessalouise.