Patricia (Pat) Terry was born on February 16, 1942, and grew up on a farm in Enterprise, a small community of pioneers in southern Utah. Pat is the daughter of Mercer and Marilla Terry. “I came from a faith community, and the whole community believed and taught it. I couldn’t get away with anything,” she recalls. Pat milked cows, tended cows, drove a truck in the fall, and skipped school for a bumper potato harvest. “I’m such a tomboy.”

She also grew up with the strong beliefs and convictions of her forebears that shaped her throughout her life.

“Everything I know about the gospel I learned from my mother at her knee,” she said. “She loved learning, she loved reading, learning gospel subjects, and she passed that on to her children, especially me. I was the only girl with five boys most of my life. I had a sister when I was 16.”

Early in high school, her family moved to the nearby St. George, Utah neighborhood, and as a self-proclaimed shy and insecure Dixie High freshman, she quickly expanded her philanthropic presence and made many new friends. One of the friends was “the most handsome boy in school,” writes Jeffrey Holland, whom she dated while on assignment in England, and the two eventually married on June 7, 1963, at the Temple of St. George, Utah, ending a five-year relationship. She and Geoffrey have three children: Matthew, Mary Alice and David, and thirteen grandchildren.

Pat attended Mormon Business School (renamed Ensign College) in Salt Lake City and graduated from Dixie College (now Utah Tech University) in St. George, Utah. She trained as a teacher at the Juilliard School in New York as a piano and voice student. She supported Jeffrey as he earned graduate degrees from BYU and Yale and worked in the church education system.

“She literally put me through school while she moved on and gave up her music career and came home and married me,” Elder Holland said. “I cannot emphasize enough the incredible gift that one companion can give another.”

The Holland children grew up in the financial constraints of graduate school and moved frequently to accommodate Elder Holland’s new position. Ultimately, they came to the fore when Elder Holland was named president of Brigham Young University in 1980.

“She was the mother of the whole campus,” Elder Holland said. “We want to be parents on this campus.”

Pat strives to provide the most normal environment possible for the children. She once said, “I don’t want them to think they are unique, even though they were brought up in a unique environment.”

Pat will be remembered for his dedication to faith and service, as well as his love of family. Her son Matt, now a seventy-year-old general, said one of his fondest childhood memories was family dinner conversations. “Every night is a family night, full of laughter, praise, encouragement, fun conversation, testimonials and expressions of love,” he said.

The YMCA presidency, Ardeth G. Kapp, and counselors, Maurine J. Turley and Patricia T. Holland, at the Salt Lake City Tabernacle during general conference, October 1984. 2020, Intellectual Reserve, Inc. all rights reserved.

Pat dedicated her life to church service, serving as Relief Society President four times and serving in elementary and Young Women organizations. In 1984, as the wife of a university president, she was named president of the Young Women General Assembly and served as advisor to Ardeth Kapp in several responsibilities. During this time, she took time to be quiet and draw closer to God through prayer.

Pat’s long service in the church has focused on women of all ages, reminding them of their significant contributions and responsibilities in their diverse roles. In her public address, she said, “If your role or mission is supportive — and many of us often are — we must be well researched and prepared to tell the world clearly that we are not apologizing for strengthening families, but pursuing our highest priorities personally, socially and theologically.