The Granby High School graduate helped lay the foundation for what has become one of the most vibrant surfing communities in the country. His love of surfing helped bring the East Coast Surfing Championships to the resort city. He and Pete Smith started the first surf shop in the area.
And he mentored generations of surfers along the way.
Holland died Monday night in his room at the Memory Center in Virginia Beach, where he suffered from Alzheimer’s. He was 88.
“He had been declining quickly,” said Don Fentress, a childhood friend and fellow East Coast Surfing Championships Legends Hall of Famer. “He was a tremendous guy in so many respects, and his modesty was really something, especially for someone with his reputation.”
If there was any one name synonymous with the sport, it was Holland.
