In 2015, Viola Holman lifted her head from the depths of grief over her daughter’s death to a vision of her Ethosha swinging her legs on the back on an 18-wheeler truck and giving out backpack donations.
Ethosha Lynn, who had battled declining health for years, had described that image of herself on that trailer as a fervent wish if and when her daddy, Jonel Holman, won the lottery. Mrs. Holman said after her daughter’s death people all over the region kept telling her of times that Ethosha had helped them.
“It explained why she never had money herself,” Holman said. “But she never told us.” Eight years earlier, Tosha and her two sons had moved in with her parents after her diagnosis of kidney failure. She helped her mother organize the Tour of South Texas, which introduced disadvantaged children to worlds outside of their own. Two such tours included the Moody Gardens Rainforest and the San Antonio Jazz Festival.
