“The mother is a gardener, planting the seeds of faith, truth and love that develop into the fairest flowers of her character: virtue and happiness in the lives of her children.” J. H. Quinn.

Pauline “Polly” E. Holcomb, 95, went into the sleep of death on Wednesday evening, May 10, 2000.

She was born in Elizabeth, N.J., on Dec. 18, 1904 and raised in New Hartford, Conn.

Mrs. Holcomb’s maiden name was Poates, a name familiar to many old-time Idyllwilders. She and her husband, the late Howell “Hal” D. Holcomb, were owners of the Rustic Tavern in Idyllwild during the 1920s and 1930s. Losing it during the Great Depression in 1934, they moved to Northern California. They made their home in the Nevada City-Grass Valley area until 1973 when they sold their home and moved to Winsted, Conn., where they resided until their deaths.

Polly was beloved as a devoted wife, wonderful mother and friend to all.

Among her many accomplishments, gardening was her passion and her seeds of love will carry on indefinitely.

She always welcomed one and all into her home and heart. Her life revolved around her devotion to God and her dedicated service to Him for the past 60 years as a faithful witness of Jehovah.

She has been buried alongside her husband and numerous other relatives in the San Jacinto Valley Cemetery in Hemet.

Along with her husband, she was preceded in death by seven brothers and sisters; and three children, Robert E. Holcomb, 2-year-old Howell D. Holcomb Jr. and 2-year-old Barbara Jean Holcomb.

She is survived by two daughters, Pauli Jayné and Penny Hurley and her husband Mickey Hurley, all of Winsted, Conn.; a daughter-in-law, Jennie Holcomb of Carmichael, Calif.; 10 grandchildren, Wendy Marchetti of Grass Valley, Glenn Holcomb of Oxford, N.Y., Karen Servin of Torrington, Conn., Michael Jayne of Atlanta, Patti Fugitt of Roseville, Calif., Rhonda Magdych of Cortland, Ohio, Jehu Mubarek of Winsted, Conn., and Jennifer, Christopher and Jonathan Hurley, all of Winsted, Conn.; 18 great- grandchildren, Tessa and Megan Marchetti, both of Calif., Blythe and Darcie Holcomb, both of N.Y., Jared and Benjamin Servin, both of Torrington, Conn., Damon, Trevor and Mikele Jayne, all of Calif., Megan Searles of Vt., Micaiah, Brit, Sunnybrook and Collette Fugitt, all of Calif., Mathinyah, Aimalee and Royce Magdych, all of Ohio, and Jordyn Taylor Hurley of Winsted, Conn.; and many nieces and nephews, including the Johnson family who are widely known in Idyllwild.