Special Condolences
Special Condolences
Walter J. Holland • 1934 - 2025
ELLICOTTVILLE - Walter J. Holland, local character, died on Thursday, March 13, 2025 of complications from old age. He was 90.
Wally was born into hardscrabble circumstances in Manchester, England in 1934. After World War II began, and along with it the Blitz, he was sent at age 5 to live in a small village in Lancashire, a place he had never heard of, with people he had never met. He made the best of it, and spoke of his years there as some of the best of his life. His mother died before his eyes when he was 10. At 15, he was kicked out of school (we don’t know why).
Some may have taken this unpromising opening act and settled into a life of drudgery. Not Wally Holland. He chose instead a life of adventure. He chose to live life on his own terms. He traveled the globe, hobnobbed with the rich and famous (his definition of famous was, however, broad), saw and was seen. He also chose to talk about the things he experienced to everyone he met - if you did meet him, you can attest to this. This is also a final opportunity on his behalf to plug his book, What’s On the Second Floor?, available on Amazon. He chose to literally print the legend.
He also did these things with a profound sense of gratitude and joy. Wally always felt that he was lucky to have experienced the wonders that life has to offer, and he spoke of that gratitude often. He took people in with an open heart. He was kind and generous, more of spirit than with the cash. That being said, he would have given you the shirt off his back but, thankfully for the viewing public, he was never asked to do that.
Along the way he left what at the time had been a life at sea, married, and had two sons. Fate or something like it eventually brought him to Ellicottville - another place he had never heard of, in which he knew no one, but which he made his own, and which he loved to his dying day.
It would be impossible not to mention his love of soccer - the only thing that could drag him away from watching a Manchester United game was to referee. For over 25 years, he refereed games across the Southern Tier, sharing his love of the game with hundreds of local kids, touching thousands of lives. He would have most liked to be remembered for that.
He is survived by his children, four grandchildren, and the many beautiful memories he created with his family and friends.
A funeral mass will be held at Holy Name of Mary R.C. Church on Monday, March 24, 2025 at 5:00pm, followed by a gathering at Dina’s, to which you are cordially invited.