ST. GEORGE, Utah — Her mortal life having concluded, Sister Patricia Terry Holland has returned — with the help of her family — to her earthly home.
Family members gathered for the graveside service of Sister Holland — the wife of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a former general officer of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — on Saturday morning, July 29, in the St. George Cemetery.
The cemetery lies just six blocks east of the historic St. George Tabernacle — key to the city’s spiritual, community and social heritage — and just six blocks northeast of the equally historic St. George Utah Temple, where Elder and Sister Holland were married 60 years and nearly two months previous, with the June 7, 1963, temple sealing starting their family in their hometown.
“This is where her faith and family began,” said daughter Mary Alice Holland McCann in her remarks Saturday, “so it is fitting that this is where she should be laid to rest.”
Just before the 2017 dedication of the Cedar City Utah Temple, Elder Holland noted that he and Sister Holland are children of southern Utah with “red sand in their shoes and lava in their bones.”
He added that this “colorful corner of the Lord’s creation means everything” to him and Sister Holland, who grew up cherishing their Southern Utah heritage of faith.
Born Feb. 16, 1942, in nearby Enterprise, Utah, to Maeser W. and Marilla Terry, Sister Holland — the mother of three, grandmother of 13 and great-grandmother of five — will be remembered for her faith-filled life defined by dedication, service and testimony. She died Thursday, July 20, at the age of 81.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland sat front and center in the middle of the three tents providing shade for family members as the late-morning temperature started its climb toward triple-digit degrees. He was flanked on one side by his eldest son, Elder Matthew S. Holland, a General Authority Seventy, and on the other side by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen.
The graveside service came a day after the Friday, July 28, funeral service held at the Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City, where four speakers — Sister Holland’s three children and President Russell M. Nelson — paid tribute to the “celestial woman” and “elect lady.”
The three children took featured roles in Saturday’s graveside service — with Elder Matthew S. Holland conducting; McCann speaking; and David F. Holland dedicating the grave.
Sister Holland’s siblings also participated — Sherene Terry Dillon offered the invocation, and four of her five brothers — Reginald, Fenton, David and Steven Terry — sang “I Need Thee Every Hour.”
The graveside service was an unpublicized event for immediate and extended family and friends, but a city like St. George extends the “family and friends” to where some 200 people attended the half-hour service, with McCann acknowledging in her remarks “the greater southern Utah family.”
McCann related highlights of her mother’s southern Utah heritage and life, underscoring “the deep, deep roots to which she deeply clung.” She spoke of the move of her mother’s family from Enterprise to St. George, giving their oldest daughter increased educational, cultural and social opportunities.
McCann told how Pat Terry first met young Jeff Holland in junior high school. Several years later, the young couple sat together in a nearby city park, with Jeff deciding to serve a mission and Pat offering her support — a starting point that would result in not only a future family but decades of service, support and example blessing lives worldwide.
Elder Matthew Holland pointed out the Matthew 6:33 scripture — “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” — that accompanied a portrait of Sister Holland on the front of the service’s printed program.
He spoke of his mother sharing that scripture with him when he was worried as a teenager about how a move from Bountiful, Utah, to Provo, Utah — after his father was named Brigham Young University president — would impact his then-present status and hopes in educational, athletic and social circles. That moment and her teaching proved to be “a spiritual pivot” for him, he said.
He called on his mother’s posterity to remember and emulate her love for the Savior, the gospel and the scriptures, as well as her life of service and example. “Her sacrifices cannot go in vain,” he added.
In dedicating the grave, David Holland prayed that the site be a witness of her life of service and sacrifice as well as a place of reassurance in the hope and faith in Jesus Christ, His Atonement, His Resurrection and His restored gospel.
“May the memory and meaning of her life fill our hearts and souls,” he prayed.
As announced afterward by his oldest son, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland offered to spend some time greeting extended family and friends — which he did before needing to depart because of the heat.
He paused briefly at his wife’s casket for a tender moment and then offered a wave of acknowledgement and appreciation to those gathered before leaving.
