SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of mourners gathered Wednesday at the Salt Lake Tabernacle to bid farewell to President Jeffrey R. Holland, a leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remembered as an “Apostle of love, learning and hope.”
Church President Dallin H. Oaks presided over the services for the 85-year-old President Holland, who was serving as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when he died Saturday following complications from kidney disease.
“President Jeffrey R. Holland left a huge mark, loving personal memories of his influence and his unforgettable testimony of God on all that he touched,” President Oaks told the congregation.
President Henry B. Eyring and President D. Todd Christofferson of the First Presidency gave the prayers, and Elder Quentin L. Cook, a fellow Apostle and former mission companion of President Holland, conducted the services.
“He had the extraordinary ability to connect with people. Whenever you were with Jeff Holland, you felt special, loved and valued,” Elder Cook stated. “We will miss his loving kindness, his infectious smile and his powerful witness of Jesus Christ.”
The funeral featured moving tributes from President Holland’s three children, who described a man whose public intensity for the gospel was matched by his private devotion as a father.
Elder Matthew S. Holland, a General Authority Seventy, described his father as an “irresistible force for righteousness” who spent his final 30 months enduring nightly dialysis and chronic pain without complaint. He recalled watching his father, even in his weakest physical moments, continue to minister to hospital nurses and those around him.
“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,” Matthew Holland said.
His second son, David F. Holland, spoke of his father’s reputation as a gifted orator and writer, but insisted he was “an even better father.” He noted that his father’s frequent sermon illustrations of a parent running to embrace a child were the “spirit and substance” of their home life.
“My dad desperately wanted us to trust the God he knew so well, and served so faithfully, and loved so deeply,” David Holland explained. “He taught us to find that succoring God in the life and love of Jesus Christ.”
Daughter Mary Alice H. McCann told the assembly that her father’s Irish blue eyes and fiery conviction made his testimony of the Savior “contagious.” She characterized him as an apostle who believed that through Jesus Christ, all things would eventually be made right.
“My dad was able to succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees,” McCann tearfully said. “But it was not because he could do the lifting and the strengthening. It was because he knew the sustaining powers of the Redeemer of the world, and his passion was to give that knowledge to all who are faint of heart.”
President Holland’s death follows that of his wife, Patricia, who passed away in 2023. A private interment is scheduled for New Year’s Day in his hometown of St. George, Utah, where he will be buried alongside his wife.
Church leaders noted that while President Holland’s seat in the Quorum of the Twelve is now vacant, his legacy of education and faith remains a cornerstone of the institution. A successor is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.