Services for Virginia Catherine McCallHolland, 88, who went home to be with her Heavenly Father onThursday, Aug. 18, 2011, will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at McNeelyRoad Church of God in Natchez with the Revs. Julius Roberts andA.D. Gammill Jr. officiating.

    Burial will follow at Greenlawn Memorial Cemetery under thedirection of Laird Funeral Home.

    Visitation will be Sunday, Aug. 21, from 5 until 7 p.m. and Monday,Aug. 22, at 10 a.m. until service time at the church.

    Originally of McCall Creek, she was born on March 29, 1923, in theresidence of her parents. The family moved to McCall Creek (oldMcCall Residence) in the winter of 1927. She loved her first gradeteacher, Mary Lofton Lewis, dearly. One day during her high schooldays, she and the whole bus skipped school and went to McComb. Whenthey arrived in McComb, they did not have any money so they turnedaround and went back to school. No one ever discussed thepunishment for that day. Virginia graduated from Independent HighSchool in 1941 as salutatorian with a class of seven students.

    After high school, she attended Drom’s Business College in BatonRouge but she could not continue due to the financial obligationsand she was unable to find a resident family to keep her. She wasforced to come home. She moved to California when World War IIbegan and became employed at Douglas Air. She worked there forthree years, putting rivets into airplanes for our fighting menoverseas.

    She often spoke of climbing all over the planes to ensure allrivets were installed properly. Her skills were used to build theBomb Arming Lever and the Bomb Release Lever for the SBD DiveBomber. She also installed the vinyl on the bottom of the planewith rivets for the bomb door to open on the A-20 Bomber. When shelearned the war would soon be ending, she returned home and shortlyafter moved to Jackson to work at General Electric as an inspectorwith fluorescent light bulbs. Her tenure there was about oneyear.

    Virginia had known and had been associated with Robert Holland formany years, so they began dating. They dated about one year andwere married on Feb. 14, 1949, and moved to Natchez. She wasemployed by Blue Bell Clothing Factory as an inspector for aboutone year and quit to follow her husband to Kansas with his job.After returning to Natchez, she never returned to work but stayedhome to become a devoted wife, mother and housekeeper. She taughtherself to sew and from that time made all the clothes for herselfand her children until later in years.

    She was a Sunday school secretary and always sang in the choir.After her marriage, she and Robert, along with friends, would ariseearly on Sunday morning to sing at the radio station prior to thelocal pastor’s radio sermon. They would then drive on to church toassist in preparing for the service. Her love for God anddedication with church was shown throughout her lifetime.

    Upon her husband becoming ill with rheumatoid arthritis, she becamehis caregiver and assisted him through many surgeries and difficulttimes. Many nights she lost sleep due to him calling and needingher throughout the night. She sacrificed everything to be a faithful wife and mother. As hishealth became increasingly worse, she continually assisted him inevery capacity. Even though the family was on limited income, shealways managed to have food on the table and never missed a utilitybill. She raised and slaughtered chickens every summer for thefreezer and she always raised a vegetable garden to fill thefreezer. When her frustrations would overwhelm her, she would gooutside and work in the yard to have some time to herself. Sheloved the outdoors (gardening and flowers). When Robert passed awayin 1980, she found herself with a lot of available time. She hadspent so many years waiting on him that suddenly her life wasempty.

    Virginia was always a helper in many capacities. In her lateryears, she was always available to assist her daughters in whateverchurch project they decided to do. She assisted with sewing forchildren’s programs, making props for VBS and whatever otherprojects needed to be completed. She enjoyed listening to herdaughters play the piano and later her grandson, Michael, play hisdrums. She never complained of the volume but enjoyed the fact hehad a God- given talent.

    She will be missed by Michael because he encouraged her to exerciseand stay active. Her son-in-law, Brent, will always miss herwonderful fried chicken, the best ever! We are sure her reward willbe great in heaven because of the sacrifices she made on earth.

    She was preceded in death by her only son, Stephen Robert Holland;her husband, Robert Holland; her mother, Hellon Louthera MillerMcCall; her father, Nolan Felix McCall; and her brothers, ClydeMcCall, Nolan McCall, Joe McCall and Claude McCall.

    Survivors include her two daughters, Joan Loutheria Holland Adkisonand husband, Brent, and Diane Kay Holland Henderson and husband,Glenn, all of Natchez; one grandson, Michael Paul Adkison; onesister, Peggy Sue McCall Allen and husband, Clinton, of Brookhaven;two brothers, Dan McCall and wife, Penny, of Natchez, and EnochMcCall and wife, Sue, of Collins; her brothers-in-law, DonaldHolland and wife, Sylvia, and Leslie Holland and wife, Clarice, ofBude; and numerous nieces and nephews.

    A special thanks for your patience to Deaconess Home Health andstaff, Inspirations and staff, Lifeskills and staff, Crown Healthand Rehab and the doctors and staff for Dr. Kevin Heitzleman, Dr.Jim Daly, Dr. J.C. Passman, Dr. Troy Vaughn, Dr. Sam Tumminello,Dr. Chad Norton, Rose Chapman and Callie Thompson.