‘I’m a
Very Lucky
Lady’ CEO Reflects
on Life
SELAH MAYA ZIGHELBOIM | JE STAFF
hen Golden Slipper Gems needed to stuff and mail 1,000 envelopes, 82-year-old
Merle Holman was one of the first to volunteer.

Holman, who still works part time as the CEO of her company Group Dynamics In Focus,
never says no, said Golden Slipper Gems Executive Director Marcia Garrell. When something needs
to get done, Holman just does it.

“She’s really an example of how one should live when you are older,” Garrell said. “She is very
interested in doing new things. She’s a joiner. As you get older, you need to sometimes be more flexible
because your body hurts or you’re having trouble with a hand. She’s somebody who’s able to get over
those bumps and keep on going with the things that excite her about her life. Every time I talk to her,
she is doing something new.”
Holman is an active volunteer with and board member of Golden Slipper and Act II Playhouse.

Once a week, she also comes into work at Group Dynamics, which she founded in 1981.

“I’ve gotten through a lot,” Holman said. “I’m so fortunate to be doing all of this.”
6 DECEMBER 20, 2018
THE GOOD LIFE
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



Holmen photos provided
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SHE’S REALLY AN
EXAMPLE OF HOW ONE
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INTERESTED IN DOING
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She was born and raised in West Philadelphia and Lower
Merion. Her family belonged to Adath Israel until they, along
with a group of other families, broke away and founded Main Line
Reform Temple. Holman attended Lower Merion High School.

Her father ran a newspaper for Brith Sholom Lodge, and her
mother was involved with Hadassah and American Jewish
Congress, so volunteering was a big part of her upbringing.

She continued on to Harcum College, where she studied mar-
keting, advertising and public relations, and was one of three
students in her major. A year after graduation in 1957, she got
married. Life took a turn in 1964.

Holman got divorced, and she found herself a single mother of
two young children.

No one in her family could fathom that she would be able to
support herself and her children on her own. Her mother was a
homemaker and told her she needed to get remarried soon.

But she managed and, eventually, thrived.

Carl Goldstein, Supervisor
6410 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19126
S UBURBAN N ORTH C HAPEL
Bruce Goldstein, Supervisor
310 2nd Street Pike, Southampton, PA 18966
R OTH -G OLDSTEINS ’ M EMORIAL C HAPEL
Jason S. Goldstein • Mgr. Lic. No. 4633
Pacific & New Hampshire Avenues
Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Southern New Jersey Chapels Available
www.GoldsteinsFuneral.com SEE CEO | Page 8
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM THE GOOD LIFE
DECEMBER 20, 2018
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