Paula Hollinger saw problems while working in hospitals and schools, then brought the solutions to the Maryland General Assembly.

As an emergency room nurse in New York City before Roe v. Wade, Hollinger saw how abortion bans disproportionately impacted poor women. So when she joined the Maryland legislature, she led the fight to enshrine abortion rights in state law.

She had seen elderly patients struggle to afford renovations that would allow them to stay in their homes instead of moving to expensive assisted-living facilities. So, in Annapolis, Hollinger advocated for Medicaid funds to be used for that purpose.

Her experience as a school and sleepaway-camp nurse showed her the need for more community-based health care, so she passed legislation to put more pediatric nurses in school buildings. And when nurses who were educated in hospital programs instead of four-year colleges complained that they faced barriers in the industry, Hollinger championed legislation making it easier for them to pursue bachelor’s degrees.

“She was just always thinking, and just always really open-minded, and thinking of ideas, like ‘How can we make it work with what we already have and meet people where they’re at?’” said Lisa Nissley, a former aide.

Hollinger, a legislator of nearly three decades known for her short stature and big policy goals, died March 25 of leukemia. She was 85.

She was born Dec. 30, 1940, in Washington, D.C. Her parents, Ethel and Samuel Colodny, were interested in politics and read the news regularly.

Hollinger decided to become a nurse because she liked “helping people and caring for people,” said her husband, Paul Hollinger. While she completed psychiatric training at White Plains Hospital just north of New York City, friends set her up on a blind date with Paul. All he’d been told was that his friend had “a nice Jewish girl for you” and she was short.

They went to the Prelude jazz club in Harlem to see Billy Taylor. Later, Paul proposed to her at another jazz night club by writing “I love you” in the condensation on a glass tabletop. They married in D.C.

Paula graduated from the Mount Sinai School of Nursing and helped open an intensive-care unit at the hospital, Paul said. They lived in Fort Lee, New Jersey, then Boston, before Paul got a job in Baltimore. Paula’s parents, who lived in nearby Montgomery County, were thrilled to have their daughter close to home again.

She worked as an ICU nurse and in the stroke unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center. During that time, she got up to speed on local politics and eventually worked for a state senator. In 1976, she ran for a delegate’s seat at the Democratic National Convention. Two years later, she was elected to represent Baltimore County in the Maryland House of Delegates.

In addition to her work on reproductive rights and school health care, she advocated for environmental conservation, gun restrictions, stem cell research and education. She was elected to the state Senate in 1986.

“She was proud of being a negotiator and a facilitator and getting along with both sides,” her husband said.

She also famously backed legislation requiring dump trucks to have covers over their loads, Nissley said. When opponents said it wouldn’t be safe for truckers to put tarps on in the rain, she brought a truck up to Annapolis on a drizzly day. She climbed up the truck in heels and stretched the tarp across the top.

“If I can do it in the rain, you can do it,” she said.

Nissley first started working for Hollinger in 2000 as an intern interested in public health policy. They clicked instantly, and Hollinger became a mentor to Nissley as she navigated the political world. Nissley, who stayed on the legislative team and later helped with campaign efforts, said her boss led by example — treating her staff well, seeking compromise where possible and hiring people with different, complementary skills.

“Nurses are known to have a good bedside manner, and they’re really the people that patients are working with most closely in a lot of cases,” Nissley said. “I think that part of her personality displayed so well when she was connecting people in her own community and friends in the legislature.”

Hollinger showed Nissley how to take things in stride. It wasn’t always easy being a woman legislator, especially early in her career, but she focused on policy goals and found humor where she could.

She left politics in 2006 after an unsuccessful run for Congress and became an associate director at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Through it all, her top priority was always her family, loved ones said.

She and Paul had three children, Ilene, Marcy and David. Ilene Hollinger remembers Friday trips to the grocery store, family game nights, beach vacations and birthday cakes lined with animal crackers. They always had a big Passover Seder at the Hollinger house. Hollinger wasn’t the most skilled cook, but every Thanksgiving she served her famed “ambrosia” — a combination of Cool Whip, pistachio pudding and canned fruit.

Ilene’s parents taught their kids “to be very open-minded to all people, to be kind, to be fair,” she said. Her mom was always her “biggest cheerleader,” Ilene said, and they talked almost every day.

Hollinger also loved taking her grandchildren to Orioles games and to her favorite Chinese and seafood restaurants. She helped look over their homework and college papers.

She didn’t talk much about her political accomplishments at home. But after she died, the stories came pouring in from former colleagues and friends. In some ways, those close to her are only now learning the true extent of her impact.

“It just was amazing to really understand the road that she paved for the people that were to follow behind her,” Ilene said.

The Banner publishes news stories about people who have recently died in Maryland. If your loved one has passed and you would like to inquire about an obituary, please contact obituary@thebanner.com. If you are interested in placing a paid death notice, please contact groupsales@thebanner.com or visit this website.