-By Carolann Fisher-Linn-
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…” Dickens
For thirty-three years Sir Wally Holland (as I like to call him – after all, he is a Brit, so why not?) has spent, no, devoted a bit less than a third of his interesting life in Ellicottville. Most local folk either know him or know who he is. Wally has his own unique way of standing out in a crowd. Even on a quick run to the grocery store, he will be dressed in a fine tailored pair of pants and perhaps a cashmere sweater and classy leather shoes. Dapper, yes, that’s the word. Like one of the people he admires, vintage actor, Cary Grant, Wally exudes a comfort or ease in his own skin and is clearly able to carry off wearing a tux as easily as his soccer referee uniform.
Alas. Ellicottville is losing this treasure of a human being as Wally moves into another chapter of his life to take residence with his son Phillippe and his family in Chicago. Wally looks forward to spending time with the little ones, especially the youngest, who is four. And, naturally, soccer is already part of their lives, so one can only imagine where that will lead for them with Grandfather Wally to teach them the fine art of soccer. After all, coaching or refereeing soccer has been his life and his lifeline for most of the years he has spent in Ellicottville. As a Brit, of course, he grew up playing and loving the sport of “football” as soccer is known across the pond. In Ellicottville and from Portville to Fredonia and all soccer fields in between, Wally has been a mainstay, and as he finally retired after this past soccer season, at 88, he was the oldest soccer official in NYS, distinctions previously held by both Joe and Adam Delity, dear friends of Wally’s – Ellicottvillians, all.
Diners at the Ellicottville Inn years back will remember Wally in his tuxedo caring for their needs and recommending the finest wine in their cellars. As I said, he is comfortable dressed “to the nines,” serving people and making them comfortable. This comes from his cruise-ship years in his old life, pre-marriage to his beloved “Cata” and pre-parenthood. In that surprising old life, which is where his volume of stories come from, he was almost like a chameleon, adapting to the environment he found himself in. I use the term “environment” loosely as one who reads the book will discover. “Pickles” or “predicaments” might also describe were he often found himself before he met his beloved “Cata”, who turned his life around and gave him stability and a family of whom he is proud beyond words or measure. He boasts of his boys’ awards from Wally’s Spelling Bee championships to Senior class Valedictorian – Phillippe’s award in Portville. “It was a huge honor, but I can’t remember what it was called,” says Wally, rather uncharacteristically, since he can remember the tiniest details of things from WWII.
Ellicottville is not the only town that is losing this dear man. He also has ties to Springville where he worked out weekly at the Spring Creek Athletic Club, where his wife Kathleen was a world languages teacher at Springville-Griffith Institute, and where he performed in Little Theater.
For all his humor, captivating (and seemingly endless) anecdotes and enthusiastic stories, Wally has a poetic, philosophical side which might be missed when one interacts with Wally, the perpetual entertainer. From his book, Dear God. What’s on the Second Floor?, I quote a few nuggets which can be fleshed out if you get your hands on it and discover that other side of Wally Holland (as Bobby McCarthy always called him). These bits from his book I share in closing will reveal that other side: “enough small things make up a life.” Re: getting older: “I am grateful for a chance to watch the world change.” There are so many more if you are observant. Read the book. At 88, Wally continues to be as much of an observer as a willing, active participant in life.
Ellicottville will truly miss you, Wally Holland. May life continue to be sweet and astonishing to you. As he says, “I am the luckiest man alive.” Indeed.
You can find this rollicking book Dear God. What’s on the Second Floor? “memoir of an unusually lucky 84-year-old Englishman” on Amazon for $13 or less or used.