Elizabeth Grabato Hollis

Elizabeth Grabato Hollis (Liz) of Gaithersburg, MD, peacefully passed at her home on February 11, 2023, surrounded by her family, after a long battle with Cancer. Born on August 21, 1955, Liz is the beloved daughter of Virginia Grabato and the late Alfredo Grabato, cherished mother of Bryan and Justin, and dear sister to Jenny, Eve, Eda and Ella. She is also survived and remembered by her nieces and nephews.

As the daughter of Alfredo Grabato, a U.S. Serviceman in the Army, she spent her youth living around the world. These wonderful adventures and experiences grew her love of travel, allowing her to immerse herself in new cultures, while cultivating her strong calling into making the world a better place. Shortly after high school, she proudly enlisted and served her country with honor in the U.S. Army, in which she became a nurse. She loved being a nurse and it was one of many ways that she knew she could help people. Following her service in the U.S. Army, she continued as a nurse with Kaiser Permanente. While she worked at Kaiser, Liz continued to share her gift of nursing by dedicating her time and heart by volunteering her services with many non-profit organizations. In recent years, she was particularly active with the Women Orthopaedist Global Outreach (WOGO) Organization, by participating in countless fundraising opportunities and working on the ground in several missions overseas.

When Liz was not caring for others in the medical sense, she was an avid bowler and was often found at a bowling center, somewhere and anywhere. As a longtime bowler, Liz garnered success winning several local titles and tournaments, as well as being a proud member of the 300 club, when she bowled a perfect game. For more than 20 years, Liz’s home bowling center was Bowl America Gaithersburg, where she was regarded as the resident “Mama,” adopting bowlers young and old, as part of her own family. If she was at the bowling center and not bowling, she was often found welcoming strangers into the sport - instantly befriending them, connecting them to others and bringing them into the bowling center’s family. She loved helping bowlers and coaching, and was always organizing and managing leagues and tournaments, while helping center staff with anything. With her determination to grow the sport of bowling, she tirelessly fundraised on behalf of several youth programs to raise scholarship money for youth bowlers while growing the sport. A program that was dear to Liz’s heart was the Bowl4Life Foundation, where 100% of donations are directly awarded in scholarships to youth bowlers across the world, in their quest to pay for college and grow the sport. 

While Liz dedicated her life to loving and caring for others - selflessly and with grace, the proudest and most precious role Liz loved, was being a mom to her sons, Bryan and Justin. They were always and will forever be her greatest accomplishment and love.

The family will receive friends from 2-4 and 6-8 PM on Friday, February 24, at Stauffer Funeral Home, 1621 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick, MD 21702, where a celebration of life will be held on Saturday, February at 2:00 PM.