Lynne Lois Bear

It's with a heavy heart and great sorrow I write of my mother Lynne Bear's passing on Oct. 12th, 2025. After taking her to the ER in Delta they found a small bowel obstruction and began efforts to clear it without surgery and moved her to a private room. Around 6:30 Saturday the 11th she became unresponsive and although around 11:00 PM that night I was able to talk with her until she went into a deep sleep until her passing just before 1:00 PM on Sunday.

A service will be held on Saturday the 25th of Oct. at 2:00 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Paonia, Co. A graveside service will follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery with a dinner at the Church to follow.

Lynne was born on 06/24/1927 to Faye Holder and Emery Holder at 335 Orchard Ave. that was a maternity ward in Paonia. Lynne went to school in Paonia and graduated in 1945. She married Maurice (cowboy) in 1947 and then followed him to Alaska in 1949 when he began working in the state. They welcomed my brother Danial Holvoet shortly after he was born on 06/17/1953. They moved back to Co. and I, Jeffrey Holvoet was born in Delta, Co. on 08/29/1955. They both returned to Alaska for a few years but Lynne moved back to Paonia and they were divorced on 01/09/1963. Lynne opened a small cafe named The Purple Cow at 220 Grand Ave. in Paonia and met my step-father Charles Bear Sr. there. Charlie lost his previous wife in a tragic car crash and they were married on 10/22/1963, He had two children Betty who had already married and moved out of state and Charles Bear Jr. The 5 of us lived at 326 North Fork until Chuck graduated and because we had traveled to Alaska each summer Chuck moved there and Married Susan. Mom went to beautician school in Grand Junction and after they bought the theatre and buildings on each side of it she opened a beauty shop and worked there until she retired. Charlie worked at the Bear Coal Co., he had helped his father Tony open when he was 14, until he retired.

They both loved to travel and went as far East as Niagara Falls and more trips to Alaska. Lynne loved her LDS church, her family and painting, mostly landscapes. She was active in the Paonia Chamber of Commerce and they were head of the Cherry Days celebrations for several years.

She was preceded in death by her mother Faye Holder on 12/17/1983 and then her father who was no longer with Faye and her older brother Lyal Holder to a climbing accident on 04/16/1982, her first husband Maurice Holvoet in 1999, then her husband Charles on 05/28/2003.

Lynne is survived by stepdaughter Betty Henderson, Charles Bear Jr., Danial Holvoet, myself Jeffrey Holvoet and grandchildren from Dan, Heather, Justin, Jonathan. Barry, Terry, and Jerry from stepdaughter Betty. Also Traca and Brittany from stepson Charles Bear Jr. Also she has 21 great grandchildren, 19 great great-grandchildren and 1 great, great, great-grandchild along with many nieces and nephews and many, many friends. She will be missed by many.