A Life in Bloom
With a name like Lilly, it seems only fitting that flowers would shape the course of her life.
Born in Hinsdale, Illinois, in 1894, Lilly began her life in the western suburbs at a time when those communities were still growing into the towns we know today. After marrying Edgar Tholin, she moved to Downers Grove, where she would become both a civic leader and a champion of gardening and community beautification.
By 1936, Lilly was serving on the Downers Grove School Board, reflecting her deep commitment to education and public service. Yet it was her devotion to flowers—and the comfort and joy they could bring—that would define much of her legacy.
Lilly became a member of the Chicago Plant, Flower and Fruit Guild, an organization formed in 1925 to deliver flowers and fruit to settlement houses and veterans’ hospitals. Through this work, she helped brighten the lives of those who were ill, recovering, or in need of encouragement.
In 1927, the Garden Club of Downers Grove was founded by women from the Downers Grove Women’s Club to advance gardening, support conservation, and beautify the community. The club later became a charter member of the National Garden Clubs in 1929. Lilly was an active and influential member, helping shape the club’s early service projects and outreach efforts.
One of the most remarkable initiatives of the era was the “Lilac Shower,” organized in the 1920s by the Chicago Tribune. The project collected lilacs from communities across the region to be delivered to hospitals throughout Chicago each spring. Lilly served as chairperson of the Burlington section for lilac collection. She mobilized Scouts, schoolchildren, and local residents to gather blossoms in abundance. Under her leadership, more than 20,000 bouquets were carefully packed and shipped by train to over 30 Chicago hospitals. Lilly even demonstrated the proper methods for preparing and shipping the flowers so they would arrive fresh and beautiful. The Burlington rail line added extra train cars to accommodate the extraordinary volume of blooms.
The response from hospital patients was overwhelming. So meaningful was the effort that Lilly went on to help establish flower gardens at hospitals, ensuring that beauty and hope would continue to grow long after the lilacs had faded.
The Lilac Shower continued each spring for nearly twenty years, becoming a cherished tradition. In 1956, the Garden Club of Illinois honored Lilly for 25 years of dedicated service. Her passion for gardening and community enrichment left a lasting imprint on Downers Grove. Fittingly, as the Downers Grove Garden Club approaches its 100th anniversary in 2027, one of its ongoing projects is the annual planting of flowers at the Main Street Cemetery—a living tribute to the spirit of service Lilly embodied.
Lilly often said, “Working with flowers keeps you from getting old.”
She passed away in 1969 and is buried at Bronswood Cemetery in Oak Brook, IL. Think of Lilly each spring, when lilacs bloom and gardens awaken, especially on National Gardening Day celebrated each year on April 14.
Lilly’s words—and her legacy—continue to flourish today.
