Our beloved priest and
friend Dick Holley is retiring from active ministry on March 31 after
nearly 53 years of ordained ministry. We will honor him with a special
coffee hour following the 10:30 service this Sunday, April 2.
Dick was born into a
United States Army family at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Following high school
he enlisted in the Army and served, mostly in Germany, for 3 years.
Along the way he came to know several Army Chaplains who had a great
influence on him.
After his time in the
Army he entered the University of Oklahoma. While there he met Lois
Edelle Hammond and the couple married after a two year courtship. After
graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Business,
Dick entered Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained in 1964.
With his sights set on
becoming an Army Chaplain, Dick met the requirement to first serve in a
parish for five years, as Curate at St. John's Episcopal Church in
Norman, Oklahoma from 1964-1969. He was commissioned as an Army officer
in 1969 and served as a Chaplain for the next 25 years, finally
retiring as a Colonel in 1994.
After his Army career,
he served as Rector at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Portsmouth,
Virginia for ten years and in 1999 made his way to St. Andrew's where he
has served as Assisting Priest for 17 years, particularly ministering
to our retirement communities and homebound members.
Dick's ministry among us has been low profile and
one-on-one. We are grateful for the impact of his gentle faithfulness in
the lives of so many of us.
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