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Larry R. Holley

1945 - 2022

Larry R. Holley obituary, 1945-2022, Liberty, MO

BORN

1945

DIED

2022

FUNERAL HOME

Park Lawn Funeral Home - Liberty-Northland Chapel

1640 N. State Route 291

Liberty, Missouri

Larry Holley Obituary

Larry R. Holley
June 28, 1945 - May 12, 2022
Liberty, Missouri - Lawrence Russell Holley, II, "Larry", beloved husband, dad, Papa Bud, coach, mentor and friend, passed away unexpectedly on May 12, 2022, at Liberty Hospital.
Larry was born June 28, 1945, in Bethany, MO, the only child of Lawrence Russell and Linda (Pugh) Holley. His parents preceded him in death.
Larry grew up in Jameson, MO, where he graduated Valedictorian in 1963 from Jameson High School. He excelled in track, music, speech, and was a first team All-State selection in Huskies basketball.
Larry received his Bachelor's degree in 1967 from William Jewell College. At Jewell, he lettered four times and served as Captain in each of three sports (cross country, basketball and track). He capped his career by being named Athlete of the Year and receiving the Alexander Doniphan Award as most likely to succeed. He later received his Master's degree in Physical Education from the University of Missouri at Columbia.
Larry's 51-year career as a basketball coach included one year at Harrisburg (MO) High School, six years at Central Methodist University in Fayette, MO, and four years at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. In 1979, Larry began his 40-season tenure as head men's basketball coach at William Jewell College.
Coach Holley led his alma mater to 11 HAAC regular season conference championships and 14 NAIA National Tournament appearances, reaching the Final Four on four occasions. At his retirement in 2019, he had coached 24 NAIA All-American players and amassed 918 career wins. He was honored as the all-time winningest basketball coach among Missouri four-year colleges and ranked in the top ten winningest coaches among US four-year colleges. Larry was honored to be named the Lifetime Achievement Award winner of the Small College Basketball Association earlier this year.
Larry received 15 Coach of the Year awards and was elected to the Greater Kansas City Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, the Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, the NAIA Hall of Fame, the William Jewell College Athletic Hall of Fame (as athlete and coach) and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
Off the basketball court, Larry was equally as dedicated to his family. He was united in marriage for 31 years to Ann Lee (Pearl) Holley until her death in 2006. Larry was blessed with love once more in 2008 when he married Linda Ann (Price) MacLeod. She survives him of the home in Liberty. Larry also leaves his daughters, Lindsay Brett (Michael), Lauren Quint (Joshua) and Lacey Foster (Brett); grandchildren, Reagan, Evan, Brea and Stevie; Linda's daughters, Angie Mikulicz (Steve) and Sara MacLeod-Arena (Brandon), granddaughters, Abby, Mia, Josie and Sadie, and great granddaughter, Amelia. He also leaves cousins, other family members and countless friends, including the athletes he coached for 48 years.
Larry was a member of Liberty Christian Church and was honored with the Sertoma Service to Mankind award, among countless other awards.
Visitation will be held from 5-8 pm Wednesday, May 18, at Park Lawn Northland Chapel, I-35 at State Route 291, Liberty, MO. A service celebrating Larry's extraordinary life will be held at 11:00 am Thursday, May 19, at the John Gano Chapel located on the William Jewell campus in Liberty. Private family burial service will follow in Glenridge Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given in memory of Coach Holley to the Men's Basketball Program at William Jewell College, 500 College Hill, Liberty, MO 64068.
You may share a message with the family or sign an online guest book via www.parklawnfunerals.com. Arrangements: Park Lawn Northland Chapel (816) 781-8228.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Kansas City Star on May 15, 2022.

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Tom and Diana Jones

August 24, 2022

Knowing Larry Holley was a gift that we cherished. When he had come to see another resident at a nursing home, he asked if he might also visit Tom Jones. What a blessing that visit was!

Jerry Cain

May 21, 2022

Lindsay, Lauren, Lacey (and Linda whom I have not yet met): I was able to attend the Thursday service in Gano Chapel in honor of your father and my friend, Larry Holley. You represented him well and, yes, he would be proud of you. One of the treasures in my storehouse is a signed basketball in appreciation of my 19 years as chaplain to the WJC Cardinal basketball team,1979-1998. My prayers are with you as you adjust to his loss. May you be flooded with good memories of a good man who raised truly good children. Jerry B. Cain, Kearney, MO

Mark Byall

May 19, 2022

Coach Holley built a generational family out of the William Jewell Mens basketball program. Anyone who was lucky enough to be a part of it shares in the loss of his sudden passing. A true gem who expected the most out of those he coached and cared for. The family he built will always be together. We are all blessed to have experienced the positive wake that he leaves behind. Sending all of my love from Wyoming. - Byall

Larry Van Dyne

May 17, 2022

I am so sorry to hear of Larry´s sudden death. When he played for Jameson I was a point guard for Newtown-Harris and our teams were great rivals. We were never able to beat them and they went on to the state Final Four. Larry and I later became good friends and I admired him and his achievements in so many ways. He will be sadly missed by all of us. He most recently had been in touch about some autobiographical stories he had written. I saw a few of them and they were quite wonderful. Hope you are able to retrieve all of them.

Charles Weems

May 14, 2022

I had the honor of officiating basketball games for Larry both at NWMS and William Jewell for over 20years and we had developed a friendship that was unbreakable I will truly miss him always in my prayers

Susan K Files

May 14, 2022

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.
Fond memories of going to Coach's Basketball camp for the Files kids!

Hazel & Susan Files (Charley Files' mother and sister.)

Harry Mendenhall

May 14, 2022

Even though I only talked to Coach Holley once I could tell how great a man he was and how amazing his life was to have such an impact in the life´s of all of the hundreds of players that he had coached ! Bless Linda and all of his family!

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Memorial Events
for Larry Holley

May

18

Visitation

5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Park Lawn Funeral Home - Liberty-Northland Chapel

1640 N. State Route 291, Liberty, MO 64068

May

19

Service

11:00 a.m.

John Gano Chapel located on the William Jewell Campus

Liberty, MO

Funeral services provided by:

Park Lawn Funeral Home - Liberty-Northland Chapel

1640 N. State Route 291, Liberty, MO 64068

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