Former state Sen. Paula Colodny Hollinger was the embodiment of the determined, roll-up-your-sleeves, compassionate public servant.
A nurse by training, she devoted her life to the advocacy and wellbeing of her constituents for nearly three decades while serving in the Maryland General Assembly.
A former longtime Pikesville resident and Beth Am congregant who lived in Sarasota, Florida, Hollinger passed away on Wednesday, Mar. 25, after a short battle with leukemia. She was 85.
On Sunday, Mar. 29, Gov. Wes Moore ordered the Maryland Flag to be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset in honor of Hollinger.
In an interview with Maryland Matters, Sen. Shelly L. Hettleman (D-11th) called Hollinger “somebody who was a role model and a mentor to me and very important to this body. … There are so many people here who served with her. … I know she was just so proud of her efforts here. Sending condolences to her family. I’m just sorry for her family’s and all of our loss.”
A native of Washington, D.C., Hollinger graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in 1958 and the Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing in New York in 1961.
“At nursing school … I developed an interest in areas I had not been exposed to,” Hollinger told Bay Weekly in 2006. “I was already looking at a relationship between the environment and health care. Before there was a designation of environmental medicine, the chair of one of our departments was lead researcher on asbestos. This was before the Clean Air Act, and as an emergency room nurse, I’d see Puerto Ricans who’d lived in rural areas develop asthma as soon as they got to New York. This was before lead standards, so I had a very early experience of kids with lead-paint poisoning.
“I spent a number of years having kids and in hands-on nursing. I’d read the paper every day and get angry,” she said. “I decided I can do just as good a job as those guys. In 1978, I went out and ran for the House of Delegates and won, with my little corps of grass-roots people and PTA and League of Women Voters and women pulled off the tennis court.”
Hollinger served in the General Assembly for nearly 30 years, representing the 12th District in the House of Delegates from 1979 until 1987. She served in the state Senate from 1987 to 2007, representing the 11th District. She served on the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, serving as committee chair from 2003 to 2007.
In 1990, Hollinger sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act, which codified the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision into Maryland law.
After her career in the legislature, Hollinger worked as associate director of the health work force at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene until retiring in 2015.
Throughout her career, Hollinger was known locally and nationally as a leader in health care policy, particularly regarding women’s health and reproductive rights, patient-centered reforms and support for health care workers.
“Paula C. Hollinger lived a life defined by service, compassion, and an unwavering belief in the power of working together,” her family wrote on the memorial page of Sol Levinson & Bros. “Whether at a patient’s bedside, in a classroom, or on the Senate floor, she brought a rare combination of empathy and determination to everything she did. A nurse by training and a public servant by calling, Paula never lost sight of the people behind the policies she championed. …
“Her work reflected not only her deep knowledge of healthcare, but also her steadfast commitment to families, children, and vulnerable communities. … Her legacy is woven into the fabric of modern healthcare in Maryland and beyond.”
Holinger is survived by her husband of 63 years, Paul Hollinger; her children, Ilene Hollinger and David (Kelli) Hollinger; and her grandchildren, Ethan Hollinger Malavenda, Emily Hollinger, Andrew Hollinger, Samantha Quick, Mitchell Gropman, Madeline Gropman and Benjamin Gropman.
She was predeceased by her daughter, Marcy Hollinger; and her parents, Ethel and Samuel Colodny.
Services for Paula Hollinger were held on Sunday, Mar. 29, at noon at Sol Levinson’s Chapel, 8900 Reisterstown Road in Pikesville. (The funeral was livestreamed on Sol Levinson’s website. )
Interment at Oheb Shalom Memorial Park, 430 Berrymans Lane in Reisterstown.
Contributions in her memory may be sent to the SEED School of Maryland, 200 Font Hill Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21223.
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