Holkeboer graduated from Hope College and Columbia University. In 1949 she was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Hope College. She began her missionary career in 1920 in Amoy, China where she was principal of Hope Christian High School for 30 years until the communist takeover. For the next ten years she lived in Manila where she established a second Hope Christian High School of which she was principal until her retirement and return to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1960.
From the description of Papers, 1920-1963. (Joint Archive of Holland, History Research Center). WorldCat record id: 30451910