John Holland

[toynrnd]

With a sad heart I regret to inform everyone that John Holland, the owner of Oak Ridge Estate, passed away Friday. There will be a public service held at 2 pm, Tuesday, December 20, at the Carriage House at Oak Ridge Estate, with a procession to the grave site at the big oak tree.

John was a great, down to earth man who enjoyed sharing his property with everyone. We were honored to work with him at Oak Ridge. Please keep the Holland family in your thoughts and prayers. John will be sorely missed.

[Deleted]

He was well known in Suffolk and will be missed.

www.suffolknewsherald.com/2011/12/17/bullheaded-landfill-owner-holland-dies/

Many residents and officials in two Virginia communities are grieving this weekend at the loss of a prominent citizen who quietly did charity work in both communities.


HollandPrivate landfill owner John C. Holland Jr. died suddenly this week. He was a Suffolk resident and owner of John C. Holland Enterprises landfill off Nansemond Parkway. His family also owned the historic Oak Ridge Estate in Arrington, which closed its offices in response to the death.

Holland wasn’t popular with everyone. He once sued — and lost to — one of his competitors, the Southeastern Public Service Authority, and many people thought of him as gruff and stubborn.

He would agree. In June, he described himself as “a little bit bullheaded” during an interview about a fine that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality ordered him to pay for a sidewall at the landfill that collapsed during a rainstorm a couple of years ago.

Holland ended up donating part of his fine to the city under an arrangement with the DEQ. The city plans to buy equipment for the Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue with the money.

“I’d just as soon give Suffolk the $35,000,” Holland said in June.

He had just delivered the check in person at a City Council meeting on Dec. 7, less than 10 days before his death as a result of bacterial meningitis.

“My heart is broken,” Suffolk Mayor Linda T. Johnson said. “I just can’t believe it. He was a great guy and he did a lot for our city.”

Johnson said she will miss Holland’s smile and the way he quietly took on charity projects and made large financial donations to a number of organizations, rarely saying a word to anyone about it.

“I think people have no idea of all the things he did,” she said.

Chief Fred Callis of the Driver Volunteer Fire Department agreed.

“He did a lot more for the Driver community than a lot of people know about,” Callis said. “Anytime the Driver Volunteer Fire Department needed some emergency funds, we could go to him and he was very beneficial to us.”

Callis said Holland’s relationship with the fire department as a benefactor had been going on for more than 20 years.

“He was very, very good to the community,” Callis said. “It’s going to be a terrible asset loss for the Driver Volunteer Fire Department. We hope his family the best, and we will do anything and everything for his family we possibly can.”

In 1989, Holland’s family purchased the Oak Ridge Estate in Nelson County, according to the estate’s website. The 200-year-old home has been owned by a number of prominent businessmen through the centuries, including tobacco planters and a Confederate congressman.

The voice mail message at the estate said on Saturday that the office would be closed for several days because of Holland’s death.

[Jesse Schneirla]

All,

We are waiting to hear the families wishes and then will make a decision to what the club will do for the Holland's.

Only meeting John a few times during the years, I know that he will be missed in the communities he live in. Plus we have lost a good friend and an OHV four wheeling supporter.

Jesse

[Jesse Schneirla]

All,

John was a supporter of two Fire Departments, Driver and Suffolk. VA4WDA will be making a donation to the Driver Fire Department in John's name and I suggest Tidewater make a donation to the Suffolk Fire Department in John's name.

Let us, The BOD of Tidewater know your thoughts.

Jesse

[Deleted]

I enjoyed listening to John talk about the work they had done to Oak Ridge. My favorite story was of the locals planting the other crop on his property. He will be greatly missed.

[toynrnd]

Dec 18, 2011 10:01:48 GMT -5 Jesse Schneirla said:

All,

John was a supporter of two Fire Departments, Driver and Suffolk. VA4WDA will be making a donation to the Driver Fire Department in John's name and I suggest Tidewater make a donation to the Suffolk Fire Department in John's name.

Let us, The BOD of Tidewater know your thoughts.

Jesse

Great idea!

[toynrnd]

LOCAL SERVICE UPDATE:

A memorial service for John Holland will be held at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 28, 2011 at Western Branch Community Church, 1935 Jolliff Rd., Suffolk, Va.

[CORE 4WD]

I'm not a BOD but I think a donation is a great idea.

Some may have called him "gruff' but from what I know (read/heard/observed) he's done alot of good thoughout the years. Anyone who allows the type of events he has allowed on his property is ok in my book, besides all the charity work! ;D

[thinblueline]

he will be greatly missed, he did alot for the city of suffolk. he may of come off rough but was a gentle man underneath.

[thinblueline]

he will be greatly missed, he did alot for the city of suffolk. he may of come off rough but was a gentle man underneath.

[87B2XLT]

Sorry to hear of this loss. I don't think I had the pleasure of meeting him during the work weekend I participated in.

Dave G