James Larry Holland

James "Larry" Holland, 75, of Brighton, passed away on Wednesday, March 23 at his home. He was born on February 23, 1947 in Memphis to the late F. C. and Alma Holland. In addition to his parents, we was preceded in death by a brother, Kenneth Ray Holland, a sister, Betty Holland and his only grandson, Joe Veglio.
Larry is survived by his wife of 55 years, Mary; daughter, Wendy Uselton (Billy) of Brighton; son, Brian Holland (Cindy) of Brighton; sister, Janet Harding (Steve) of Arlington and four granddaughters, Taylor Holland of St. Augustine, FL, Brandi Holland of Clarksville, TN, Olivia Uselton and Sophie Uselton, both of Brighton. He is also survived by his blue heeler, Josie Marie.
Larry was an Elder and member of the Sharon A. R. P. Church.
Larry grew up in Memphis and attended Frayser High School where he played football and track. He joined the Army in 1966 until 1969 and served in Vietnam. He joined the Memphis Police Department in 1969. Larry worked patrol the TACT Unit, then on the gun range and served as Captain over the Dog Squad. He retired from MPD after 38 years of service.
He was involved in his kids' lives throughout the years by coaching Wendy's softball and basketball teams for many years and he and Brian spent most of their time fishing or hunting. He knew how to fix or build anything. He was a great father, teacher and mentor to not only his kids, but any one that needed his guidance.
Larry married his high school sweetheart, Mary – they were a true "love story". They covered so much of the country travelling together and enjoying life. They traveled to every state in the US including Alaska and Hawaii. They also traveled to Australia. All of their trips were wonderful, but their last trip to the mountains of West Virginia would have never been on their list to do again. The narrow roads on mountains, no GPS or signals were too much of an adventure for them to tackle again. Larry and Mary also enjoyed fishing together and he even took Mary on a few deer hunting trips with him. As long as they were together, they were happy. Larry had been sick for six months in and out of the hospital and Mary never left his side.
His best friend Dr. Ken Barrett was a true friend to him for many years. They spent all of their winters at the "Duck Swamp" duck hunting and made annual prairie dog and pheasant hunts. Those were some of Larry's happiest days.
Larry's brother in law, Pancho Chumley, and he were the best of friends and definitely kept each other in check. Pancho looked up to Larry as a father figure and would seek his guidance on a regular basis.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 26 at the Covington Funeral Home chapel with interment to follow in the Salem ARP Cemetery in Atoka. The family will receive friends 11 a.m. until service time at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the funeral home.