Dr. Stephen Holliday, ’68, believed in giving back, especially when it meant providing educational opportunities. Throughout his career, he helped teach countless dentistry students to be successful in their field.
That legacy now lives on through The Dr. Stephen R. Holliday Scholarship, which gives preference to Capital University students seeking a bachelor’s degree in biology or another healthcare field.
“Steve had such a wonderful education that allowed him to go on and achieve other things, and he wanted that for other students,” says his widow, Pam Holliday.
Steve grew up in Lancaster, Ohio, and had many memorable experiences visiting his older brother Robert, who played basketball at Capital University. So, when it came time to attend college, he knew exactly where he wanted to go.
“He just fell in love with Capital,” Pam Holliday remembers. “Steve would talk about the campus and all the activities. It was his first experience of being away from home. It was a chance to mature, and he also appreciated the religious side of Capital. It offered a moral foundation.”
Pam says her husband, who passed away Jan. 4, 2025, also gravitated toward the size of Capital. “It wasn’t so overwhelming,” she says, adding that he was able to engage with his professors and have a more personal experience.
Jim Dennis, who was Steve’s friend and attorney, had known him since 2018. He says, “Steve relished his time at Capital because he wasn’t just a number. At a place like that, you can really make a mark, and it makes a mark on you, too. Alumni there make a big difference and when they do well, Capital does, too. At a school like that, you not only learn a lot about yourself, but being a liberal arts school, you learn how to learn, and you learn how to go the extra mile.”
Following graduation from Capital, Steve earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from The Ohio State University College of Dentistry. Following his studies, he and his Ohio State roommate, Dr. Dan Becker, opened their own dental practice in Waynesville, Ohio.
Before long, Steve enrolled in the Miami Valley Dental Residency program and upon graduation, was recruited to start the newly formed dental residency program at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton while still in his 20s. “They had faith in him,” recalls Pam. “He really, really embraced that because teaching was one of the things he loved.”
Through the years he would continue to teach at Good Sam and eventually return to Miami Valley to teach there before assuming the role of director of Dental Health Sciences at Sinclair Community College, retiring in the early 2020s.
Pam says she met her husband while both worked at Good Samaritan Hospital. “He was such a real engaged person,” she says. “He was such a believer in education.”
She says he had made wonderful friendships at Capital and stayed in touch with many of those friends throughout his life. His activities at Capital included playing on the intramural basketball team and singing with the men’s choral group. “He just enjoyed every minute of his Capital experience,” she says. “It felt like his life was truly enriched by Capital.”
Pam wants to make sure recipients of The Stephen R. Holliday Scholarship know about the man behind the endowment. “My goal was when the scholarship recipients receive this, they wouldn’t think it was from some nameless person,” she says. “He had such a wonderful sense of humor. He was very witty and deeply curious. He was tenacious, deeply caring and concerned about other people. He wanted students to succeed and lead good lives and be interested in other things. That was important in his life, too. That’s what made life better.”
Steve believed in “both learning and the opportunity for higher education,” Pam says. “I think he would want students to pass it on; keep it going and add to it.” Just as he did.