During a funeral service on a warm summer day, family, friends, and Latter-day Saints around the world remembered Sister Patricia Terry Holland—the wife of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a former counselor in the Young Women General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—for her faith, testimony, and dedication to her husband and children and to the Savior and His Church.
“Sister Patricia Holland is exactly what a celestial woman looks like,” said President Russell M. Nelson. “We weep today for the passing of one so beloved by her family—and that family is the whole population of the world, really. However, we rejoice because of the celestial life she lived.”
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Sister Holland died Thursday, July 20, at the age of 81. Born Feb. 16, 1942, in Enterprise, Utah, to Maeser W. and Marilla Terry, Sister Holland is the mother of three, grandmother of 13, and great-grandmother of five.
Thousands gathered on Friday, July 28, 2023, in the Conference Center Theater and in overflow locations in downtown Salt Lake City for the funeral, which was also broadcast via livestream on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. The funeral was attended by members of the Church’s First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as well as other General Authorities and Officers.
President Nelson was the final speaker during the services that also included memories from Sister Holland’s children—Elder Matthew S. Holland, a General Authority Seventy; Mary Alice Holland McCann; and David F. Holland. Elder Ulysse G. McCann, an Area Seventy and Sister Holland’s son-in-law, performed a piano medley. Daughter-in-laws Jeanne H. Holland and Paige Holland offered the opening and closing prayers, respectively, and Elder Kevin W. Pearson, a General Authority Seventy, conducted the service.
And although “the circumstances of his own health and emotions” prevented Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from standing to make an “extended tribute to his beloved companion,” Elder Matthew S. Holland read a few words written by his father.
Read the full summary of Elder Holland’s tribute and more details about the funeral at Church News.