Earl R. Holder

NEWTON - Earl Holder, 88, died Saturday, July 8, 2006, at Catawba Valley Medical Center, following a period of declining health. Mr. Holder gave Newton a community voice when he founded Radio Station WNNC nearly 60 years ago. The professional zenith of his 39-year career during the golden age of radio came in 1980, when he was inducted into the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, honored as a pioneer in community radio and joining the ranks of Tar Heels Edward R. Murrow, David Brinkley, Billy Graham, Andy Griffith, Charles Kuralt and Grady Cole. In Catawba County, Holder's name for four decades was a household word, as was the name of his alter ego, a colorful hayseed character named Pappy Millsaps he devised - complete with gap-toothed grin and over-all costume. As the local community's most vocal booster, he frequently highlighted public gatherings and charitable events in the character he portrayed on radio on the "Chitlin' Ridge Hookup" for 30 years. At times his wife, Phyllis, also in costume, portrayed the hillbilly's wife, Docie, in the comedic routine. Holder originated a weekly on-site broadcast of the Sunday morning Men's Bible Class lesson at First Methodist Church, which is now in its 58th year on the air. Through the decades, the class teachers included attorneys, a school principal and a newspaper publisher. In 1951, when Newton American Legion Post 16 started its Man and Woman of the Year recognition as part of the annual August Soldiers Reunion patriotic festival, Holder was named the first recipient of the award. After he sold the radio station in 1976, Holder was honored at a Community Appreciation Night reception and "roast" at Newton City Hall, when he was made Honorary Mayor. Holder was cited by speakers for the support of all worthy local causes by himself and his station. In 1994, he was again honored by the city. On that occasion, he was honored for his many years' volunteer work on behalf of the blind through his membership in Newton Lions Club. Funeral rites will be performed Tuesday, July 11, at 2 p.m. at Newton First United Methodist Church, by the Revs. Daniel G. Martin and David Gary. Interment will be in Eastview Cemetery. The family will receive friends at Willis-Reynolds Funeral Home on Monday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Memorials are suggested to N.C. Lions Foundation (for Camp Dogwood), P.O. Box 39, Sherrills Ford, N.C. 28673, or First United Methodist Church (for the Men's Bible Class radio fund), P.O. Box 926, Newton, N.C. 28658. Earl Reid Holder was born Sept. 3, 1917, in Belmont in Gaston County, a son of the late Fred E. Holder and Ina Honeycutt Holder. He and the former Phyllis Gilbert of Gaston County were married Feb. 4, 1940. Mrs. Holder died in 1989. He is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Wayne (Jackie) Dellinger of Newton, Mrs. Joe (Jill) Fisher of Virginia Beach, Va., and Mrs. Steve (Beth) Caldwell of Sherrills Ford; five grandchildren, Eric Dellinger, Suzanne Dellinger Yoder, Joseph Fisher, Patrick Fisher and Chris Caldwell; two great-grandsons, Will Yoder and Alex Yoder; a sister, Mrs. Sarah Whitaker of Charlotte; and two brothers, James "Jimmy" Holder of Gastonia and George Holder of Newton. While living with his family in Cleveland, Ohio, for several years as a youth, Holder became interested in radio and began practicing broadcasting professional baseball games - a passion which led to his prominent role in bringing semi-professional baseball to the local community with the Newton-Conover Twins team. He served as manager of the Twins Baseball Club. Holder broadcast all the team games for a number of years. He also broadcast for many years the Newton-Conover High School Red Devils' football games. Holder, who was educated at Belmont High School and Catawba College, began his broadcasting career in 1939 as an announcer at WGNC in Gastonia, moving on to WGBG in Greensboro. He and the late Charles Turner established WNNC in 1948. He left the Newton station in 1953 to be the first manager of Lincolnton's WLON when it went on the air and returned to Newton as sole owner and general manager in 1954. He retired in 1976, when he sold the local station - after 34 years - to David "Dave" Lingafelt, who had come to Newton from Morganton. A member of Newton Lions Club for approximately half a century, Holder served as president. He has also been active in Newton-Conover Optimist Club, was a director of Newton-Conover Youth Foundation and Newton-Conover Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the Soldiers Reunion Committee and held membership in the National Association of Broadcasters and N.C. Association of Broadcasters. He often was master of ceremonies for fundraising radio marathons to benefit March of Dimes drives that provided financial help to local victims of the 1940s and 1950s polio epidemics. In the political realm, the non-partisan Holder was frequently emcee for both Democrat and Republican gatherings. He was a member of Newton First Baptist Church, where he served as both a deacon and trustee. He was a teacher of adult Sunday school classes at both the First Baptist and First Methodist churches in Newton. The Holder family has entrusted funeral arrangements to Willis-Reynolds Funeral Home and Crematory of Newton.