Adoption agency founder Bertha Holt dies at 96

Des Moines Register, The (IA)

Author: George Jason; Register Staff Writer DM

Bertha Holt, a Des Moines native who co-founded one of the world's largest international adoption agencies, died Monday morning at her Creswell, Ore., home.

Mrs. Holt, who had suffered a stroke July 24 after completing her daily 1.5-mile walk, was 96 years old.

Bertha Marian Holt was born in Des Moines on Feb. 5, 1904, to Clifford and Eva Holt. She was the fourth of nine children in her family.

Mrs. Holt graduated from East High School and the University of Iowa, completing a five-year course that combined liberal arts and nursing, with education as a minor.

Mrs. Holt became involved in adoptions in 1955 when she and her husband, Harry, saw a documentary about Amerasian children in South Korea who were abandoned after the war. Months later, the couple adopted eight orphans, and the resulting national attention prompted hundreds of others to ask them for help adopting South Korean children.

In 1956, they formed the Holt Adoption Program that later became Holt International Children's Services. When her husband died of a heart attack in 1964, Bertha Holt took over leadership of the agency.

Now with programs in 10 countries, Holt International has found homes for 50,000 children in the past 30 years.

Also committed to homeless children for the past 45 years, Mrs. Holt traveled to more than 20 countries to advocate on their behalf. She was honored by world leaders for her efforts. "Grandma," as she was affectionately called, was especially concerned about children with special needs.

Child advocates and elected officials expressed their sympathy to the Holt family Monday.

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Bertha Holt, a great champion of the world's most vulnerable children. I worked with Holt International Children's Services many times over the years and was always impressed by Bertha's devotion to children, her belief in the power of a loving home and her deep commitment to adoption," said first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on the Holt International Web site.

Mrs. Holt is survived by her 14 children, including the eight she adopted.

This story includes reports from the Associated Press.