President Dallin H. Oaks, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, remembered President Jeffrey R. Holland as a man of “unwavering devotion” with a “steadfast witness of the Savior.”
President Holland died Saturday, Dec. 27, at 85 years old.
The post on President Oaks’ social media channels reads:
“I grieve the passing of President Jeffrey R. Holland. Our relationship in education and Church service began more than 50 years ago. It was a long and loving relationship in the work of the Lord.
“During my service as President of Brigham Young University, I had the privilege of inviting him — then a young scholar in his early 30s — to serve as Dean of Religious Education.
“From the beginning, his influence strengthened the university’s sacred mission to unite spiritual purpose with academic excellence.
“Over the last three decades as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he lifted the weary, encouraged the faithful, and bore a powerful witness of the Savior — even through seasons of significant personal trials.
“We honor his unwavering devotion, his steadfast witness of the Savior, and his inspired ability to strengthen faith and deepen understanding.
“We thank our Father in Heaven for the blessing of shared service and for our united witness that Jesus Christ lives and directs His Church today.”
A warm association and friendship
President Holland first met President Oaks in early 1974 when the latter was the president at Brigham Young University.
They went to dinner, and President Holland said there was an “instant” connection between the two men.
“We instantly hit it off, and I was terrifically impressed,” President Holland told the Church News in October.
A month or two later, President Oaks came to President Holland’s office in Salt Lake City and asked President Holland, then 33 years old, to be BYU’s new dean of Religious Education.
President Holland said he accepted on the spot and moved his family to Provo, Utah, marking the beginning of a warm association and friendship that has spanned more than 50 years. President Holland later succeeded President Oaks as BYU president in 1980 and joined him in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1994.
They spoke together in a video released in November on the occasion of BYU’s 150th anniversary.
“It is a privilege to follow Dallin Oaks in anything, and I have followed you for so long,” President Holland told President Oaks in their conversation. “I love you like a brother. You are a brother.”
Responded President Oaks: “And I love you. You have helped me solve a lot of problems that were my responsibility as well as yours.”
