Boylston: Garrett G. Hollands, 75, passed away on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at home surrounded by his loving family after a battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Garry loved spending time with his family. He leaves his beloved wife of 52 years Brenda Smith Hollands; son Gregory J. Hollands, his wife Gwen and children Bridget and Theo; 2 daughters – Carolyn L. Hollands and her significant other Maurice Kalous; and Elizabeth (Betsy) S. Gothing, her husband Grant and son Graham. He also leaves his brother Robert Hollands and family of Georgia.
Garry was born in Buffalo, NY, son of the late Robert and Doris (Bowers) Hollands. He graduated from East Aurora High School and the State University of New York at Buffalo, with a degree in geology. He earned his Master’s Degree from UMass, Amherst.
He proudly served his country as a 1st Lt. in the US Army. As a Lt. he taught at Fort Belvoir and then served a year in Vietnam. In Vietnam he worked on the construction of a road that went from the foothills across the triple canopy jungle and mountains into the A Shau Valley. It was the largest and most successful engineering project in Vietnam. He was a historian for the 27th Engineer Battalion Association.
Garry was a geologist and a founding officer of IEP, an environmental consulting group. This firm was later purchased by Fugro, then ENSR, and then AECOM. He specialized in wetland issues and had clients across the US. Over his career, he was a board member of the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, a board member of the MA Outdoor Heritage foundation, a member of the Wachusett Watershed Citizens Advisory Committee and a member of the Boylston Earth Removal Board.
Garry was a lover of history. He was instrumental in getting a diary from his wife’s great grandfather, who was a doctor in the civil war, on the path to being published. He was a past president of the Civil War Roundtable.
A major passion was hunting and competitive shooting. He did competitive shooting with the N-SSA, the North South Skirmish Association, using antique weapons, and was a member of the 10th Massachusetts Battery, a civil war unit. He was also a member of the MA Antique Arms Association and was a staff writer for the Single Shot Exchange.
Garry was an avid hunter, making trips with other hunters to Alaska, Idaho, Colorado, Canada, Kansas, Mexico and other states. They would hunt deer, caribou, bear, turkey, goat, ducks, etc. His group of friends would have annual game dinners. He also enjoyed skiing, water skiing, canoeing, sailing and fishing.
Garry was a member of the First Congregational Church of Boylston.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 29, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. in the First Congregational Church in Boylston. There are no calling hours. Burial will be in Pine Grove Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers donations in Garry’s memory may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation.
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