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Interview with Renée Holzman (b. 1936)
By Anderson Kitzis on April 26, 2026
Alright. So… do you want me to explain first…how this? Oh, why don't you tell me what class you're doing it for? So we're doing this, ..., how it started actually was for freshman year, I had an oral history project. ..., and I had to interview someone, and then..through this, I… interviewed, do you remember Alan Rosenfeld? I interviewed him about.. have you heard about his story? Yes. With the whole World War II thing. So… that was super interesting and I loved that, and I had a like really great experience with that…That was freshman year. And then this past year at the beginning of the year... me and my friends started a club…and a bunch of people signed up, and it's just…whoever wants to…like I send out an invite to whomever, and then my grandma connects us…and then whoever wants to come can come along… and do the interviews. I feel like it's a good experience. Have you done a lot of interviews? Yeah, we've done like maybe ten or so...So what do you do with them once you have them? We…have a website that we just post them and we write a little thing…and then…we're gonna post the website. And also, we're…planning an… end of the year celebration with all of you, and then we can give you the transcripts that we write up. Oh, that would be nice. That would be something that my children would like to have. Exactly… we can make multiple copies if you'd like. And then we'll send out the invite, of course, to make sure you get it. And I think it'll be here at…Rose Schnitzer…like June, mid-June or something after school ends. Oh, that sounds interesting. It should be really fun. What class? It's not Wilson anymore. I go to Lincoln High School. Oh, you go to Lincoln. My husband went to Lincoln. Yeah, I go to Lincoln. And how the website idea started was there was a class that I had to do a service project for. So I decided to expand this club a bit more. And just make it into a website to share the stories. Nice. So what I…typically do for this…I give you the chance to share whatever you want. I have…a bunch of questions lined up….but …if you just like to start, like, where did you grow up? ..., how was your career…? Okay. So do you want to start asking me questions? Yeah.
So where did you grow up? I grew up in Portland, Oregon, in northeast Portland. In the Irvington section. Oh, yeah, it’s very nice. Have you lived here your whole life? I've lived here my whole life. Have you visited anywhere else? Yes, I've traveled extensively. I've been to Europe several times and..I haven't seen all of the United States. I've been to New York and California and Florida. I've been around but I haven't seen all the states. Where do you think your favorite place that you've been? My favorite place is here. Oh really? I like Portland. I do. Did you ever consider moving…? No, I never did. We have a summer home up in central Oregon and my family likes to go up there. And no, I've never considered living any other place. I like New York for visiting..because I like to go to the plays. They have some good ones here sometimes. Yeah they do. I've been to a few… Where was your favorite place in Europe that you've been? I think, I don't know, I've been so many places. I think maybe Paris. Oh, yeah. I went there last summer with my family. It was so nice. I loved it…it's a beautiful city.
Where did you go to high school..? I went to high school at Grant High School And I went to University of Oregon, University of Michigan, then came back and graduated from University of Oregon. Why did you do that transition from? I just felt like having a change. And I thought I was going to the East and I was really going to the Midwest. Oh yeah, it's cold there. Yeah. But I had a good time. And then you came back to Oregon. Then I came back to University of Oregon, got my degree. What was your degree in? Well, I graduated with a major in English literature. Interesting. Bachelor of arts.
Did you have a career in those fields? I had my teaching certification and never worked full time. I did substitute teaching. That's because my husband, when we got married, had started a company and he needed free help, for people to work in the company, and I did that. So I was doing that and substitute teaching. What was your husband's company? It was called “Reliable Credit”. It's still around…absolutely. And my husband's gone now, but my youngest son is running the company and his son is working at the company. So I think it's going to be a family company for a long time. Yeah, that's really cool. What is the company? What do they do? It's finance. They make loans and finance property and mortgages, and I just say finance. Did you enjoy working there? Um, not really. I was doing typing and it wasn't really that interesting for me, but they needed my help and so I worked there. But…it wasn't the kind of work that I enjoy.
Did you enjoy the substitute teaching? I did. Yeah that was fun. It seems really nice, meeting new kids and everything. So I enjoyed that. And then I started having children and I wasn't working anymore and that was it. How long did you do the substitute teaching? Just a couple years. I got married in 1958, had my first child in '61. So during that time was when I was substitute teaching. How many children do you have? Three sons.. Do they live close? They all.. one son lives in Hawaii but the other two live here. That's so cool. That's good.. Yeah. Do you see them often? Not as often as I'd like. The one in Hawaii, I don't get to see that often. But they're wonderful sons. I appreciate them very much. Does your son in Hawaii like it there? Oh, he loves it. It seems really cool. He has a wife and he has a lovely home, and he always is very welcoming if anybody wants to come and stay there. He has a guest home. And he loves it there. He really does. It's very pretty. Have you visited there? Oh yes. I've been there. He'd like me to come more often, but I... I don't want to do that. Hawaii is super nice. Are they all working in the company? No. Only the youngest son. He works in the company. And my oldest son is retired, and my middle son was an attorney but he is not working anymore. That's so interesting. Did he enjoy that? He liked it, I guess. Yeah.. Do you think that with the company, do you think it'll keep getting passed down generation to generation? I hope so. My youngest son, who runs the company now, his son is working there. And so I have a feeling it's at least for another generation. It'll still be in family hands. But I really don't know after that what will happen. It's hard to know. That would be really, really cool.
…My parents were… introducing some of your stuff to me, and they said that you did a lot of work with the Death with Dignity Act. Yes, I did. And I read a little bit about that today. That's super interesting. Do you want to like explain a bit about that? I would be happy to. It all goes back to when my father was in the hospital at UCLA. He had cancer and he was dying. And he was in pain. And rather than just let him go, keep him comfortable and let him go, they gave him medicine to continue his life, even though he didn't have any quality of life. And he, I'm sure, wanted to go. And I thought to myself at the time, this is wrong. It should not be this way. And I became interested in the right to die movement. And I eventually chaired that. I don't know what you call it, cause, in Portland. And I'm a believer in people having the right to end their life when it becomes intolerable. And so I did a lot of fundraising and contributing and speaking and, on behalf of the right to die. When your father was in the hospital, was it illegal to not give him the medicine? Oh yes, it was illegal. But in Oregon now, it's legal. Which is yay for Oregon.. We're very, I think we're on the right track. I heard that Oregon was the first state to have that. I'm so proud of Oregon. Did you contribute to that? Oh, yes. That must be a really good feeling… getting something that you work so hard in.
If a person is elderly and they're suffering and there isn't any medicine that you can take to get rid of the disease and just to keep a person alive, giving them medicine just to keep them alive so that they prolong their suffering. I think it's very wrong. And most people, when they get to that point, they want to end, they want it to end. I know my father did. So I was very involved in that. I contributed a lot of time and effort. Are there any other states..? Yes, there are. There are about six other states that have the Right to Die.. When was it that Oregon allowed that? I think it was, I can't tell you for sure, but it's been about ten years ago, I think. So it's recent, relatively recent. I'm not sure if you've heard of this. My parents were telling me about this [man], I forget his name actually [Dr. Kevorkian], but he would go around before this Act was in place. and…assist people with ending their lives…he would go around all over the country, and…the families would… give them permission, and the people…they didn't want to live anymore, so he would assist them in.. ending their life. And then… one time…, the person that he was trying to do this for… he couldn't move his arms, so he couldn't give himself the injection…and then they charged him with… murder… I was really surprised. … And they also…had a video of the person that…passed away saying like, I consent to this and everything, but they still didn't allow it. This is in Oregon? I don't think it was in Oregon. I think it was, it may have been, but I think it was just around the country…I feel like stuff like that…also helped the cause…because it really does…benefit so many people. Absolutely. Why should people have to suffer? When there's no way that they can be cured? They just go on suffering…I just thought that that was wrong. That's really brave of you. When I believe in something, I pursue it. That's really important. I give money to it and leadership.
Have there been any other causes like that? Not causes like that, but I'm on the symphony board and I've been on the symphony board for years and I'm a lifetime member of the board.
So I promote that too.. I've never been as passionate about any cause as I have the Right to Die. But if something came along, I would certainly join it. Something that I cared about deeply.
What was the symphony? The Oregon Symphony - it's the Symphony Orchestra for Portland and Oregon.
And I'm on the board. And I love it. I love the symphony. I’ve been going for years. My husband and I used to go.
So that's another cause that I support. I support a lot of causes. We started the Holzman Foundation.. We give to nonprofits once a year or twice a year, actually.
And they send us proposals. And …I have to read the proposals and then yay or nay. And uh, been doing that for, I don't know how many years, maybe twenty years.
Are you still doing that? Yes. What is the process like? Do you go through it consistently?
Is it like a full-time job or is it just occasionally? Well, it's not a full-time job because we receive grants, grant proposals.
They send them to the US National Bank, and they go through them. We have by-laws.
Make sure that they fit our by-laws, and then they send them to me twice a year and I read them and I decide whether we're going to do it or not do it. So I've been doing that for a long time. I started the Holzman Foundation.
You've heard of charitable foundations..
That's what it is. It's a charitable foundation. What kind of nonprofits have you [supported]? Is it mostly just in Portland? Mostly Portland. We give, it's hard for me to remember all the different ones that we give to.... We give to the symphony. We give to American Cancer Society. We give to hospitals. Any nonprofit is eligible for a grant… If I decide, sometimes I don't give them as much as they're asking for. But uh, I've been doing that for some time.
So you can look up the Holzman Foundation. Yeah, I'll look at it online. And you'll see more about us. Yeah, I'll look into that. I also do recall that.. the dining room upstairs is the Holzman [dining room]. That's right. That's another one that we've given to.
We've…been giving major gifts for quite some time.
How long have you lived here? I've been here, I think, two years now. Going on three. Time has passed so fast, so I can't keep track... After my husband died, I was living in my house. Not terribly far from here. My sons just felt that I needed to be with other people, that it was healthier for me. So I sold my [house]. Do you like living here in this community? It was really the only alternative that I had. I had to move out of my house. I was in a big house. And I don't think I was eating properly and I was lonely. And so this was the alternative. I either had to have somebody come live with me at my house or move. And my family thought that this was a good alternative because they have programming here. And there are people around and food is prepared. So I think it was the best alternative to living in my house. But it's not home. It's different. And I miss my house. And I had a beautiful garden. I miss my garden. But I didn't really have any choice. So…It's a good place. And I think your grandmother probably has shared with you that it's a good alternative, but it's not home. I think that's the way that she feels too. I think she really likes the community. Yes, it's very nice, nice warm friendly people. Yeah. But If I had to do it all over again, I wish I had my family around me and we were living in my house. But that was not to be. So that's that's why I'm here. But I think they do a good job here of keeping us busy and feeding us and they clean and take us on...they have good programming… So it's as good as it can be, but it's not like living in your own home. I think everyone, like my grandmother also… really misses her home. Your grandmother's very nice. Yeah she is. She's a great bridge player. Oh, really? She's very smart. Do you play bridge? I play bridge. I play bridge with her and we learn from her. She's really a good player. She's a very nice lady. I like her a lot. Do you play any other card games? I play bridge and that's about it. One of our players died, so we haven't been playing, and another one is sick, so we haven't been playing. So I miss that. But that’s the way it is living in an old people's home, people are dying. It's not happy. But for those of us who can't live alone it's a very positive alternative. And so I'm glad that I'm here and I can afford to live here. But I'd like to turn back the clock, years ago when my family was still around me. But that's not to be.
How long did you live in that house? My house? I moved in about 1962, until..about two years or three years ago…I lived in that house a long time. Had a beautiful garden. It was a lovely house. But this is all the space I need. I don't entertain. I used to like to have company a lot. And, of course, I can't do that. It's a change of life. It's just, you know, what happens when you get old. What did you love so much about your garden? Well, I love the variety of flowers that I had planted, and I had one part of my garden that I called my salad garden. I planted a lot of things that could be eaten. That was nice. I looked out at it from my family room in my kitchen. Looked out at my garden. We had a waterfall put in. And it was a big, almost natural looking waterfall. That was nice. That seems so pretty. And I had a fig tree and an apple tree and had a lot of edibles in the garden… It was very pretty looking out from the family room. Very colorful.
Do you ever go to the Rose Garden? I haven't for years. But that's very pretty. It's so nice. I suggest that you should go this year….in the next few months…It's really nice. I think I have a couple of girls who come and take me out. And I may have one of them take me. I feel like that would be really fun. I'm on the tennis team at Lincoln.. And we practice at the Rose Garden…Almost every day and it's super nice. That's wonderful that you are on the tennis team. I've been doing it for a while. I know that you look like a tennis player. It's been really fun. How's the team doing? We're doing well...we're looking good. I think we will most likely, if everything goes according to plan, I think we'll win the State Championship. I'd love to see you play. Yeah, you could come out for sure…. you could connect with my grandma about it. Does she come and watch you? She's come and I'm sure she'll come to the - there's… a big tournament at the end of the year, the State tournament and that's really fun. And she came to that, I believe last year. So if you want to connect with her, that'd be lovely. I’d love it. I love tennis. I was a tennis player. Really?..Did you play in high school? I played it in high school.. At Grant? No, I didn't play for Grant. But I just played, we belonged to a tennis club - West Hills Racquet club. So I would play and my husband played. I used to play doubles… It's a great game. I love to watch it. But…of course I don't play anymore. But, well, that's wonderful. Good luck. I hope you win. Thank you. We'll see how it goes. But it should be fun. Did you play any other sports growing up? No, just tennis.. I'm a pretty good bowler…I never was on a team. I enjoy watching basketball. Baseball. I don't like football. Not interested in football. I watch my grandchildren when they play. What do they play? ...basketball mostly. Is it Max Holzman? Max Holzman. Have you heard of him? Yeah, I went to school with him, actually. Oh, you did? I am a grade below. I'm a junior right now. But I went to OES for middle school with him. Okay, so you remember him? I remember him. Yeah. He's very, very good at basketball. He's very good..I like to watch him play. He's really fun to watch. He always seems to know where the ball is.
Have you been watching the NBA playoffs? I haven't been. I don't get Prime TV. Do I need that? For this one, it's just on ESPN. Because the Blazers game is on right now. Is it on right now? It's on right now. What channel? …for numbers, I think it should be 735. Because I have this new TV and I don't know how to work it.. I don't know how to work that one either… Maybe I can try…[TV turns on…]. I can’t find it here. They're playing today? Yeah and I think they're doing well. Oh good. Who are they playing? They're playing the San Antonio Spurs. Have you ever been to a Blazers game? Oh, yes, we used to have season tickets. My husband and I used to go. That's so cool. Season tickets? I don't have tickets anymore. My family, we enjoy going sometimes… We only went once this year, but it's super fun whenever we do get to go. I used to love to go. We used to go on the bus, a Blazer bus. The Blazer bus? Yeah, there was a Blazer... You would drive to a restaurant, you’d park your car, and then you'd go on the bus. That was fun… With all the fans. That was a lot of fun. I wish I could do that now, but... Things change when you get older. . Yeah. So your family goes? ...We don't go that often, but we watch the games a lot…just on TV. I think my parents are watching. I would like to watch it. I don't know what channel it would be on. I don't know either. My TV is a bit different..the remote. But I'm not sure, actually..
Is there anything else that you'd like to share? ..., any moments that you remember or any memorable things? Can't think of anything. Is there any other questions you have for me? .... I don't know. I don't have any right off the top of my head. Well it was nice being interviewed by you. Yeah, thank you so much. And what are you gonna do with these interviews? We're gonna transcribe them… and then we'll also put it on the website that we have. And then we'll bring it to the celebration at the end. Oh good. It was nice of you to do this. Yes, thank you so much for participating. Sure. Happy to. I'll let you know about the dates for that. And also, I can connect you with my grandma if you'd like to come to the tennis. Oh thank you. I would love that. When are you playing next? We play tomorrow. Oh, tomorrow is our next game. We have a lot of games… Who are you playing? McDaniel. Oh, I don't know them. I think they're pretty good, but we'll see how we do. Oh well, good luck. Thank you. I bet you're good. What's your best shot? My best shot, I would say, is actually probably my backhand. Your backhand. That was always my worst shot. Yeah, it used to be my worst shot, but now… You've had a lot of practice. Yeah. I guess so...but it's been fun. Good…Well, it's nice of you to interview me. Thank you so much. You're welcome.