{"id":76671,"date":"2025-12-30T02:42:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T05:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/remembering-the-life-of-president-jeffrey-r-holland\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T02:42:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T05:42:15","slug":"remembering-the-life-of-president-jeffrey-r-holland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/remembering-the-life-of-president-jeffrey-r-holland\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering the Life of President Jeffrey R. Holland"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With heavy hearts, we announce that President Jeffrey R. Holland, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died on Saturday, December 27, 2025, at approximately 3:15 a.m. MST from complications associated with kidney disease,\u00a0while surrounded by his family. He was 85.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere [was] nobody better in the Church at teaching.\u201d \u2014Elder Quentin L. Cook<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

President Holland became an Apostle on June 23, 1994. At the time, he was serving as a General Authority\u00a0Seventy (1989\u20131994). Prior to full-time Church service, President Holland was president of Brigham Young University (1980\u20131989), Commissioner of the Church Educational System (1976\u20131980) and dean of BYU\u2019s College of Religious Education (1974\u20131976). He received his bachelor of English and master of religious education degrees from BYU. He also obtained master and doctor of philosophy degrees in American studies from Yale.<\/p>\n

Downloadable video for journalists: Tribute video<\/a>\u00a0| B-roll<\/a> | SOTs<\/a>\u00a0| Elder Andersen<\/a> | Elder Cook<\/a> | Mary McCann<\/a> (daughter)<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTemple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference.<\/span>
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Photos<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\u201cI have loved President Holland since those early days [as a young missionary],\u201d said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was companion to President Holland during the duo\u2019s mission to England in the early 1960s. Elder Cook said even then he noticed the 20-year-old Elder Holland\u2019s unique way with words. He had a \u201cfabulous\u201d talent for teaching the gospel, along with \u201cenormous spiritual depth,\u201d Elder Cook said<\/a>. \u201cHe was extremely good then, and there [was] nobody better in the Church at teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Holland was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia Terry<\/a>, who passed away on July 20, 2023. He is survived by their three children, 13 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTemple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference.<\/span>
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Photos<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

Reared in a Home Where He Was Always Loved<\/h3>\n

Meeting President Holland for the first time was like meeting someone you had known all your life. You received a firm handshake, a hearty slap on the back, a warm, engaging smile and an enthusiastic yet sincere \u201cHow are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

His genuine love for others was just one of the qualities that made this Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints so effective in proclaiming the gospel of the Son of God. President Holland \u201chas a deep spirituality coupled with an exceptional sensitivity. \u2026 [He is] always building people and lifting people and drawing people to him,\u201d President James E. Faust (1920\u20132007) of the First Presidency of the Church once observed<\/a>. \u201cHe has the marvelous capacity to make people feel that they are his very best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in St. George, Utah, on December 3, 1940, to Frank D. and Alice Bentley Holland, President Holland described his boyhood as a sweet, peaceful time in a small community where everyone knew each other. \u201cI couldn\u2019t have gotten in trouble in that town if I\u2019d wanted to. My mother would have known before I ever got home,\u201d he once quipped.<\/p>\n

President Holland\u2019s home was a place where humor and genuine affection for others were paramount. \u201cI was always loved. But I was loved in a way that no child could have ever, ever asked for more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That love for people and life translated into a passion for sports in young Jeffrey\u2019s life. He played on every kind of team that was assembled in St. George, was a member of Dixie High School\u2019s state championship football and baseball teams, and lettered in football, basketball, track and baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe central joy of my life while I was growing up was sports,\u201d President Holland said<\/a>. \u201cI played on every kind of team that could have been assembled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building a Family with Patricia Terry<\/h3>\n

But his mind wasn\u2019t so focused on sports that he didn\u2019t notice Patricia Terry cheering on the sidelines. The two started dating in high school and were married on June 7, 1963. Theirs was a unique relationship that helped shape and build each of them in their various responsibilities in the Church.<\/p>\n

Patricia Holland was an accomplished vocalist, author and speaker. Yet President Holland said her primary focus was always her family \u2014 a fact especially important while raising three teenagers on the BYU campus during President Holland\u2019s busy time as university president.<\/p>\n

\u201cI give Pat all the credit on the home front,\u201d said President Holland, who authored more than a dozen books \u2014 including two with Pat. \u201cWe were pretty busy, pretty early in our lives and always felt we were getting asked to do things quite a few years before we were old enough or smart enough or wise enough to do it. \u2026 She really worked at making [life] normal [for our children and] worked very hard at underscoring what families ought to do and what families ought to have and what parents ought to be for their children. \u2026 I stand in slack-jawed, wide-eyed admiration that she would just march off the end of any diving board for me, for the Church, for the Lord, for her kids. She\u2019s always done that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Elder-Jeffrey-R.-Holland<\/h6>\n

Holland family portrait, November 1984.<\/span>Photo Courtesy of BYU <\/span><\/figcaption>Download Photo<\/span><\/figure>\n

The same could be said for President Holland, who carefully planned time with his three children, Matthew, Mary Alice and David. Matt said<\/a> his \u201cfondest memories from childhood are the dinner table. Every night was a kind of family home evening filled with laughter, compliments, encouragement, interesting conversation, testimony, teaching and expressions of love. You always knew Dad was happiest when he was at home with his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

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elder holland and his son matthew<\/h6>\n

Matthew Holland, son of Jeffrey R. Holland, at the April 1983 general conference. Matthew spoke to the congregation during the priesthood session.<\/span>2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Holland said his approach to good parenting was homegrown and fundamental. \u201cIf you\u2019ve got the love of the Lord in your life, if you know that there\u2019s meaning and purpose to life and forgiveness is real and love is the most powerful force in the universe \u2014 it\u2019s a lot easier to be happy and create an environment where other people can be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Gentleman, a Scholar, a Diplomat \u2014 and Always a Teacher<\/h3>\n

His fervent, unyielding faith first blossomed when he served a mission for the Church to England at age 19. He called his mission the turning point in his life, where he nourished his belief in God and began an intense study of and appreciation for the Book of Mormon. As a result, President Holland said his mission \u201ceither substantiated or dramatically changed \u2014 in a good way \u2014 every goal, feeling or aspiration that I ever had\u201d \u2014 among them, the decision later on to pursue a career in teaching instead of studying medicine when he returned home to Utah.<\/p>\n

President Holland subsequently received master\u2019s and doctorate degrees in American studies from Yale University. After graduation, President Holland passed up many lucrative opportunities, instead opting to return to the Church Educational System and teach what he loved best \u2014 the gospel of Jesus Christ. Teaching was not what he did \u2014 it was who he was.<\/p>\n

One of President Holland\u2019s mission presidents, Elder Marion D. Hanks (1921\u20132011), said<\/a>, \u201cJeffrey Holland is by nature a teacher. He is a gentleman, a scholar, and a diplomat \u2014 but in all those things he is a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little did President Holland know that his teaching acumen would be the genesis for future assignments in the Church. His brother Dennis said<\/a>, \u201cAll Jeff ever wanted to do was teach the gospel to students in a classroom. I was always sure that the Lord had the same goal in mind for him, but that the size of the classroom and the number of students were on a much grander scale than he was envisioning.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Holland\u2019s classroom expanded when he became Commissioner of the Church Educational System in 1976 and then was appointed as the ninth president of Brigham Young University in 1980. As president, he led a $100,000,000 fundraising campaign, helped the school celebrate and deal with athletic successes (including the BYU football team\u2019s 1984 national championship), and won the respect of many as he assisted in assuaging strong protests against the building of the BYU Jerusalem Center (completed in 1989).<\/p>\n