Obituary of Gerald G. Holland

The incredible life of Gerald G. (Puzzy) Holland was marked by living life to the fullest!  His 101 years were full of enthusiasm, tenacity, vim, and vigor, and above all, a huge heart full of love. His legacy is the generations of people that know they are loved and will continue to pass it along for generations to come.

 

He was born in Calumet, Michigan in October 1919, the 5th of 9 children born to Anna and Paul Holland. His family worked hard and struggled to manage during the depression era. The family moved several times for work before settling in Rock Island, Illinois in the ’30s. Gerald was one of several of the older siblings who worked to help support the family.  Early on he worked at movie theaters, learning air conditioning and refrigeration, both innovations not yet common in homes.

 

He met Rosemary Normoyle in 1941 and they married in Milan, Illinois in September 1942. Together they built a home on a portion of her family’s farm. Like most young men of the “Greatest Generation,” he proudly served in World War II. He joined the Navy and was in the CB’s from 1942-1945.  Here his knowledge and skills in refrigeration excelled and served to “protect the quality of food supply to the troops in Europe”. (Bill Holland, 2016)

 

Returning to Illinois after the war, Gerald became a skilled machinist and toolmaker, working at Bendix and the Rock Island Arsenal, providing for his growing family. By 1960, they had six children.  Around this time nicknames for Rosie and Gerry popped up and for the rest of their lives, they were lovingly known by everyone as Muzzy and Puzzy. 

 

Muzzy found an advertisement in the Arsenal newsletter and sent off an application for a machinist position in Pearl Harbor. As good fortune would have it, the family of eight set off for Hawaii in 1967. He worked at Pearl Harbor as a machinist and tool and die maker for over 12 years.  There was nothing he couldn’t make or fix, from a lawnmower to a nuclear submarine.  The family resided in Ewa Beach.

 

Puzzy had energy and zest for life. He loved sailing and it wasn’t long before he acquired a 32-foot sloop and spent many years enjoying the wind and sea with the family. There were always more adventures to experience, many of which included his young adult children who worked hard to try to keep up with him.  He tried hang gliding, scuba diving, jeeping in the jungles, deep-sea fishing, and making pottery. He built a kiln or two and created a backyard studio. He continued this hobby for most of the rest of his life.  Many people are blessed with his pieces, with the classic “Puz” stamp on the bottom. 

 

In 1973, one of his daughters set off for Alaska with her ten-speed bike. He was always ready for an adventure, so when she invited him to go along, at his ripe young age of 53, he bought a bike the next day. They rode over 500 miles across the expansive beauty of Alaska. A few years later both the youngest daughters ended up settling in Fairbanks, Alaska, and off he went to start that chapter, around 1980.

 

He bought a piece of property in Fairbanks and built another house. He was always raring to go, often saying (at 7 am) “The days half shot.” He supervised his daughters and sons-in-law house building, car fixing, farm growing projects. With more energy to spare, he built airplanes, got a pilot’s license, bought a plane, went moose hunting, joined a hot air balloon chasing crew, mastered canoeing, and made more pottery at the University of Alaska.

 

Puz and Muz spent winters in Kamuela, Hawaii, near their two Big Island daughter’s families. There were more projects to supervise, more grandchildren to enjoy and another community to create and love.

 

He and Muzzy were charter members of St. Raphael’s Catholic Church in Fairbanks and helped build their chapel near Fox. You can still see his handiwork in the lectern and altar which grace the chapel.  Their priest, Father Tim Sander, became his pilot instructor, a partner in airplane ownership, and a dear friend.  They also traveled to see their son’s families and occasionally had grandkids visit them in Alaska, for canoeing adventures, and camping, etc.

 

Muzzy passed away in the fall of 1987, after 45 years of marriage.  This knocked the wind out of his sails for a year or so. Then he met Barbara Webb and fell head over heels for her.  They married on December 21, 1989, and his happiness and zest returned.  With Barb’s two young daughters added to the family, he got another batch of kids to raise! Life was full of more house projects and campers and traveling with his new young bride and girls.

 

They moved to Wrangell, Alaska in 1994, following daughter Wendy and son-in-law Mark Olson (then new pastors of the Wrangell Presbyterian Church). Though it was intended to be a short-term move, they fell in love with the community and the community fell in love with them. Boats and poker games, grandkids, and building projects, fishing, and all manner of community connections would be yet another significant chapter for nine years of their lives.

 

Ready to move on again they resettled in Salem Oregon in 2003, where grandchildren were beginning to settle. They hosted frequent gatherings of grandkids and the great-grandchildren crawling around and lots of new ones coming every year. There were more house projects, camping, exploring, trips to Hawaii, Ireland, Florida.  Well into his nineties he was still active, collecting huge Oregon logs, bringing them home to cut and split into firewood and lumber, building furniture and porch swings, making more pottery, and a backyard fire pit!

 

As far back as can be remembered he claimed, “I’m gonna live to be 100!”, and true to his word, by golly he did. The family gathered from all over the country for a 3-day celebration at a lodge in Canby, Oregon in October 2019. Nearly 100 of his clan celebrated with gratitude, jubilance, and LOVE. And card playing, did I mention he loved playing cards?  There was always card playing at every gathering, and he was still winning.

 

One example of the depth of his “family love”; in 2015, I, Laurie, had the privilege of being his “guardian” on his “Honor Flight” to Washinton DC. to visit the WWII memorial.  At the memorial, a young child was prompted by her parents to thank Puzzy for his service. He took hold of her hands gently and said, “Thank you for your part and the part you will play in the future, adding love to the world. Especially when you have children, THEN you will know love, like your mom and dad have for you now! Etc etc.” We all just took it in, the spontaneity and power of his words. Yes, this was my dad, this is what he gave to us, the experience of loving and being loved.

 

We cannot begin to capture the depth and breadth of Puzzy’s adventures, talents, skills, handiwork, craftsmanship, perseverance, and what he would just claim as common sense. He was bigger than life, and everyone he touched bears the imprint of his life.

 

Despite some health challenges in the last year and his body tiring out, he seemed to think he would live forever. He always seemed to recharge and recover. We celebrated his 101^st birthday around his backyard firepit. But alas, his body did wear out and on December 20^th, 2020, he set sail for the other shore. He will be terribly missed.  A small family service was held on December 23. Due to Covid, another memorial may be postponed until next summer.

 

He is survived by his wife of more than 30 years, Barbara Holland, son Jerry Holland (Connie), daughters Linda Buscher (Harry), Kristene Short (Diki), son Jon Holland (Dora), daughters Laurie Holland-Klein (Martin), Wendy Olson (Mark), Emma Endicott, Jane Endicott (Brian Graybeal), 22 grandchildren, 30 great-grandchildren and 22 spouses of children and grandchildren, and one living sister, Laura Coyle.

 

He was predeceased by his first wife Rosemary F. Holland, his parents, and seven siblings.

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