Mary Holland

Dec 2, 1921 -

Jun 6, 2020

Mary was born in Stirum, N.D., on Dec. 2, 1921. She had four sisters, Lorraine, Patricia, Cecilia and Harriet, and two older brothers, Don and Howard. Mary attended school in Stirum and enjoyed playing basketball. After high school she went to business school in Fargo/Moorehead, N.D.

While in business school Mary chose to travel north to Fairbanks, Alaska, to marry her sweetheart, Earl "Bud" Holland. She had an exciting flight through Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and arrived a day late for her wedding. She found her husband-to-be at the local bowling alley. They were married the next day in early 1944. They spent their wedding night in a "line" shack along the Alaska Railroad, seeing as how Bud was working for the railroad at the time.

They moved to Anchorage, Alaska, that summer and rented from a friend near 9th and C Street. In 1953, Bud and Mary, with the help of Bud's dad built a seven unit apartment house near 8th and Barrow Street in Anchorage. Bud's brother Cecil and his family rented a house on an adjacent lot to Bud and Mary's apartment house.

By this time Bud and Mary had three boys: Don, Roger and Gregory. The family moved out of the apartment house in the early 60s to a new home near Roger's Park. They lived there and eventually built a smaller home adjacent to their existing back yard. That is the residence where Bud passed away in 1993, and his wife, my mother, passed away the early morning of June 6, 2020.

They were both awesome parents that gave to their family throughout their lives, particularly their time which was their greatest gift!

Mary is survived by her three sons, Donald of Wasilla, Alaska, with wife Maurine, Roger of Fairbanks, with wife Iris, and Gregory of Tombstone, Ariz., with his girlfriend Peggy. There will be no memorial service for Mary. Her remains will be interred at Angelus Memorial Park cemetery with her deceased husband Earl R. Holland.