R.W. William E. Holland has departed to the celestial lodge above. He was 73.
Brother Holland was raised in Needham, MA. He was a member of Needham Chapter Order of DeMolay He joined Norfolk Lodge, Needham, in 1971. He was Master in 1989. On April 12, 2021 he received his 50-year Veterans Medal.
He began his service to Grand Lodge in 1993 as Grand Standard Bearer during R.W. Carl Gordon’s term as Deputy Grand Master. In 1998 and 1999 he was District Deputy Grand Master of the Brighton 5th Masonic District. He was named Grand Representative to the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia in 2005.
M.W. Jeffrey B. Hodgdon appointed him Deputy Grand Master in 2006. Deputy Grand Master is the second highest office in the jurisdiction. For his service to Grand Lodge, he received its highest award – the Henry Price Medal – that same year. He served on the Grand Lodge Board of Directors between 2006 and 2012, and again between 2014 and 2018.
Brother Holland was a member of The Masters Lodge, Needham, Marine Lodge, Falmouth, and a charter member of The Lodge of the Royal Secret, Boston. He was Worshipful Master of The Masters Lodge in 2008.
Active in many Masonic bodies, he took his York Rite degrees in Mount Vernon Royal Arch Chapter, Cryptic Council, and St. Bernard Commandery No. 12, Knights Templar.
He joined the Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, Valley of Boston in 1983. He was Commander-in-Chief of Massachusetts Consistory between 2000 and 2003. He received his 33° in 2001 in Indianapolis, IN. In 2017 he received the Daniel D. Tompkins Award for Distinguished Service.
Brother Holland was a member of Aleppo Shriners, Wilmington.
Bill was Director of Operations for the Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, Lexington.
He was loved and cherished by many people including : his wife Amy Holland (Mullan); his children, Mary E. (Holland), Allen (Ben), Catherine W. Holland and Andrew E. Holland (Joan); his grandchildren, Jason, Addison, Benjamin Holland, Molly and Caroline Allen; his sisters, Joan Zweil (Arthur), Susan Curry (Walter) and Barbara Holland (late Bill Emberton); his nieces and nephews, Allison Zweil, Arthur Zweil III, Kimberly Melski (Curry), Michael Curry and Stephanie; and his friends, Carl and Gordon.y.
.RIP Bill. Lots of good memories of our NHS days. My sincere thoughts to your family and your dear sister Barbara. Beautiful tribute to you for all the good you have done.
Shocked and saddened to see Bill's passing. I was in DeMolay with him and also worked with him at Stone & Webster Engineering Corp in Boston. One of Bill's many talents was that he was the architect and constructor of the award winning DeMolay/Rainbow 4th of July floats, spending many a June evening in the back parking lot of Art Shade Company making magic happen. Always upbeat and smiling. My condolences to Amy and his family. RIP Bill.
My condolences to your family, Bill. It was quite a 7th grade Math Class with Mrs.Tolander. It's as clear as our yesteryears. They become clearer, as our yesterday's fade. I saw Mrs Tolander in her home in NH some years ago. She recalled our class. She said it was the worst class she ever had. We reminised about life at Highland Avenue Jr High. She even recalled students in that class. You and I, she said were the most difficult ones.
Im glad we had that time, and all the years we spent in Needham, growing up. I'm sorry that I never told you. My you find joy in Jesus, in all eternity, and we'll rejoice together on the other side.
I did not get to know Bill until those memorable years at Needham High. A very thoughful and considerate man, a great tetherball player, and one of my very good friends. I remember a fun afternoon in his rec room watching Army training videos from the 40's. The most entertaining one was a film set to the music, Begin the Beguine... of course, the service men in the video sang "when they begin... to clean the latrine." Groans all around. We will all miss Bill, his smile, his sense of humor, his sense of humanity. A wonderful person. My prayers for Amy and his family. God bless you Bill.
Anna Loring ((DiVecchio))
.RIP Bill. Lots of good memories of our NHS days. My sincere thoughts to your family and your dear sister Barbara. Beautiful tribute to you for all the good you have done.
Bruce Cameron
Shocked and saddened to see Bill's passing. I was in DeMolay with him and also worked with him at Stone & Webster Engineering Corp in Boston. One of Bill's many talents was that he was the architect and constructor of the award winning DeMolay/Rainbow 4th of July floats, spending many a June evening in the back parking lot of Art Shade Company making magic happen. Always upbeat and smiling. My condolences to Amy and his family. RIP Bill.
Roland Coombs
Bill & Rolly spent our first seven years at Broadmeadow School together.
Bill & Rolly spent many afternoons after elementary school playing together.
Bill & Rolly bowled at the Bowling Green though Junior and High School.
Bill & Rolly went through high school together in most of the same classes.
Susan Schrader ((Perrin))
My condolences to your family, Bill. It was quite a 7th grade Math Class with Mrs.Tolander. It's as clear as our yesteryears. They become clearer, as our yesterday's fade. I saw Mrs Tolander in her home in NH some years ago. She recalled our class. She said it was the worst class she ever had. We reminised about life at Highland Avenue Jr High. She even recalled students in that class. You and I, she said were the most difficult ones.
Im glad we had that time, and all the years we spent in Needham, growing up. I'm sorry that I never told you. My you find joy in Jesus, in all eternity, and we'll rejoice together on the other side.
Richard tenEyck
I did not get to know Bill until those memorable years at Needham High. A very thoughful and considerate man, a great tetherball player, and one of my very good friends. I remember a fun afternoon in his rec room watching Army training videos from the 40's. The most entertaining one was a film set to the music, Begin the Beguine... of course, the service men in the video sang "when they begin... to clean the latrine." Groans all around. We will all miss Bill, his smile, his sense of humor, his sense of humanity. A wonderful person. My prayers for Amy and his family. God bless you Bill.