Visit for memorial brings recollections and information
Edith Holmstrom and the late Art Holmstrom of International Falls had no biological children themselves, but integral in their lives were the many foster and exchange students they nurtured. A prolific letter writer, Art kept close ties with all of them.
So tight were the bonds that several of them attended a memorial service celebrating Art’s life in May, and they visited with Edith.
Attending from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, were Hector and Xiomara Valle, the parents of Benjamin Valle, who was a foreign exchange student at the young age of 10 and lived with the Holmstroms for a year. Also attending was Lillian Valle Bustillo, another of the Holmstroms’ exchange students, who at the age of 19 in 1977-78, shared the Holmstrom’s life in Borderland. Lillian is Hector’s sister and Benjamin’s aunt.
Hector and Xiomara play very important roles in San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras with over a million people in the metro area. They are leaders in a team of volunteers on a crisis hotline that receives calls from people in trouble, Hector told The Journal.
With over 60 staff members, the International Telephone Hotline Hope is a telephone line operated by the Catholic church. Psychologists, psychiatrists, lawyers and family counselors are part of an ecumenical team that offers help and solutions to Honduras people in pain. Domestic violence, people without jobs, legal dilemmas and marriage problems are issues that dominate and devastate Honduras people, according to Hector.
Hector and Xiomara have four boys, one of them Benjamin, who is in college and could not attend.
Edith is very proud of her connection with this Honduras family.
