During funeral, President Jeffrey R. Holland’s children pay tribute to his life and legacy

Thousands of people turned out on Wednesday, Dec. 31, for the funeral of President Jeffrey R. Holland, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The beloved Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, at age 85, from complications associated with kidney disease. He had been serving as the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since President Dallin H. Oaks and his counselors in a new First Presidency were announced Oct. 14 and acting president since November 2023.

President Holland’s funeral was in the Tabernacle on Temple Square at 11 a.m. MST. Elder Quentin L. Cook, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and President Holland’s former mission companion, conducted the service.

President D. Todd Christofferson, second counselor in the First Presidency, offered the opening prayer, while President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, gave the closing prayer.

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square provided three musical numbers: “Consider the Lilies,” “Come Unto Him” and “More Holiness Give Me.”

Prior to remarks from President Oaks, President Holland’s three children reflected on their father’s life, faith and legacy.

David Holland: ‘I felt what you felt when he spoke’

David Holland, President Holland’s youngest child, said he never tires of hearing people tell him how President Holland blessed their lives.

“The truth of the matter is that, as for so many others, his messages also powerfully rescued my faith and healed my wounds and renewed my hope and gifted me a redemptive vision of Christ’s love,” David Holland said. “I have sat in those congregations; I have watched those conference sessions; I felt what you felt when he spoke.”

For David Holland, the most meaningful moments of his father’s ministry came in the intersection of public ministry and parental goodness. For instance, President Holland often spoke about the connection between fathers and their children, from the Bible’s prodigal son to the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Heavenly Father.

“This was, I believe, so much more than mere literary motif,” David Holland said. “This image contains both the essence of my dad’s approach to parenthood and his irrepressible testimony of the character of the God … who is, first and foremost, a parent.

“I believe in such a God, I know such a God, in large part because I had such a dad. And, for that, my gratitude to him and for him exceeds my words.”

Mary Alice H. McCann: ‘Carry on the fire of faith’

It is somewhat frightening and lonely to no longer have the man who made the world safe for her, said Mary Alice H. McCann, President Holland’s daughter. But as the Savior left His disciples with a Comforter greater than He, President Holland has left her with something greater than his physical presence: a testimony of Jesus Christ.

“My father loved the gospel of Jesus Christ … with all the blazing fire of his being,” McCann said. “If my mother loved a testimony of the gospel into our hearts, he burned it into our souls. His passion for the Church of Jesus Christ was deep in the marrow of his bones.”

President Holland was an apostle of hope, McCann continued. He believed in the redemption of Jesus Christ and that, through Him, all things would be made right — if not today, then tomorrow, next month, next year or even in the next life.

“There is only one thing that could make this day truly sad in any sort of an eternal way,” McCann said, “and that would be for us to turn our backs on the gospel of Jesus Christ to which [President Holland and Sister Patricia Terry Holland] dedicated their lives. …

“Now it is time for each of us to pick up their baton and to carry on the fire of faith that they flamed within each of us.”

Elder Matthew S. Holland: A ‘master class’ in discipleship

Elder Matthew S. Holland, a General Authority Seventy and President Holland’s oldest child, called his father an “irresistible force for righteousness.”

President Holland could have used his world-class gifts of friendship, intellect, language and mirth to achieve secular honors, Elder Holland said. Instead, “he channeled virtually everything he had — those legendary gifts, plus his time, his astounding work ethic and his fierce sense of determination — into bringing people to Jesus Christ and His Church.”

Especially during the past several years, President Holland repeatedly pushed past his own intense challenges to bring love, laughter and the Light of Jesus Christ to others in life-altering ways, Elder Holland said. This final and possibly most admirable chapter of President Holland’s life was a “master class” in being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing, could persuade him that God was anything other than a High Priest of Good Things To Come, and that the restored gospel was a true gospel of happy endings,” Elder Holland said, “particularly for those who do their best to keep the commandments, receive their priesthood ordinances and honor their eternal covenants. Such faith is the thing we all most need, and the thing he most wanted to share.”

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