Peggy Holland

Peggy Holland, age 84, co-creator of the My Own Business entrepreneurship curriculum and website, a retired public school teacher, principal, and administrator, and beloved wife, step-mother, grandmother, aunt, and dear friend to many, as well as a 34-year resident of Hacienda Heights, California, passed away in Los Angeles, California on October 18, 2017. The sparkle in her eyes when she talked and laughed, and her grace, charm, wit and wisdom will be greatly missed.

Her beautiful, generous and gregarious life will be especially remembered for her longstanding service and commitment to the city and children of Los Angeles.

In 1992, Peggy shared her husbands desire to rebuild the Los Angeles community following the 1992 LA riots. Using Phil Hollands books on entrepreneurship (How to Start a Business by Ten Speed Press in 1992 and The Entrepreneurs Guide by G.P. Putnams Sons in 1984) as a guide, she developed the original course curriculum for My Own Business, Inc. to teach people how to start their own businesses. Peggy created the course sessions based on each of the basic disciplines covered in the books.

When we saw the positive impact our course made to so many people across Los Angeles, we knew we had determined our future work, she said in 2014. Along with Phil, she recently contributed the course, website and a generous endowment to Santa Clara University where it became the My Own Business Institute. Peggy was a founding Board member participant there and remained active through 2017.

Peggy and Phil enjoyed extensive travels over the years, visiting all seven continents. Highlights for her included Atlantic crossings on the QE2, high tea in London, visiting the South Pole, and regular trips to New York City, Aspen for skiing, and relaxing at the Mauna Lani resort on the Big Island of Hawaii. She loved to travel anywhere, anytime, especially when she could start her day with an exhilarating sunrise and end with a lovely sunset. She would be excited to see shows on television and exclaim how she and Phil had visited the place highlighted on the screen: We were there! she would be tickled to say.

Many of her trips were on My Own Business missions, including visits to Poland and Chile with CISCOs Entrepreneurship Institute and lecture tours in support of small businesses in South Africa and India on behalf of the U.S. State Department.

Proud of her Irish heritage, Peggy was known for celebrating with joy and fun on St. Patricks Day -- the most important holiday of the year for her.

Her beauty could be compared to her lush, blooming flower gardens, which she tended with love, time and great care. She protected her flowers from heat waves and spent many hours outside handling details of their growth to create a flourishing and beautiful area that gave her great joy and satisfaction.

Peggy Holland retired as an accomplished teacher, elementary school consultant, principal and administrator with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

She was with LAUSD for more than twenty years she began teaching at Dorris Place School in East Los Angeles, and then transferred to Eagle Rock Elementary, which was a training school for Occidental College students. She was also the principal at Farmdale and Rosewood Elementary Schools with LAUSD. She later became an elementary consultant in the East Area Office. Peggy initially taught first grade in Lake Crystal and Mound, Minnesota.

Peggy was born and raised in the Fitzpatrick and McCarthy families in the small town of Green Isle, Minnesota, which was the first Irish settlement in Minnesota dating to 1862. She attended St. Brendans Catholic Church, built in 1863, which is still attended to by her brother, Tommy Fitzpatrick. Tommy lives on the family farm started by her parents Robert and Ella Fitzpatrick.

She earned her B.A. in education at Mankato State College and received her M.A. in administration and supervision from California State University Northridge. She was an active member of the Hacienda Golf Club participating in golf and card clubs there since 1982.

Survivors include her beloved husband, Phil, to whom she was married since 1977, and his daughter, Lisa Rathfelder, son-in-law Bob, and granddaughter Sheryl. She also leaves behind her many cherished friends and extended family in California and Minnesota.

Services in honor of Peggy will be held on November 10 at 11:00 a.m. at St Bruno Catholic Church, 15740 Citrustree Road, Whittier, California 90630. White Emerson Mortuary is handling funeral arrangements.