Charles Howard Holland

November 4, 1937 – December 29, 2024
Charles Howard Holland, of South Chatham, Massachusetts, passed away suddenly on December 29, 2024 surrounded by his family. He was 87.
Charlie was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the son of the late H. Brian Holland and Gertrude Bancroft Holland and the younger brother of Alice Holland Webster. He attended schools in Wellesley and later in Washington D.C. at Sidwell Friends School while his father served as Assistant Attorney General in the Tax Division in the Eisenhower Administration. Charlie graduated from Amherst College in 1960 where he was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity (Psi-U), and then obtained a Master’s Degree in Experimental Psychology at Hollins College (now Hollins University) in Roanoke, Virginia. He completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Connecticut, then worked for the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine doing research in hypnosis in addition to teaching medical students. He then returned to Hollins College where he served as Psychological Counselor to the staff, faculty, and student body, and taught students in the Psychology Department for ten years. He married Elinor Hugo his last year in college and they had three children.
Following his work in higher education, Charlie founded the Counseling Center in Roanoke in 1978, a group practice where he was a therapist until 2019. He was 82 years of age when he retired. He mentored many psychologists, physicians and therapists along the way. He also chaired and served on numerous boards in the Roanoke Valley and for the Commonwealth including Mental Health America, SARA, the Grandin Theatre, Mental Health Services (now Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare), the Virginia Psychological Association, the Virginia Academy of Clinical Psychologists, the Virginia Board of Psychology, the Council of Representatives to APA (American Psychological Association) among others. He also founded TRUST, a shelter program and crisis hotline in the 1960’s, which remained operational until 2023, and he was one of three founding members and a long-time board member of Community School, begun in 1971, a non-traditional school, K – 8, which continues to provide exceptional educational opportunity to its students to this day.
Charlie grew up spending summers with his family in Chatham, Massachusetts on Cape Cod, and on the coast of Maine. He loved the ocean, the beach, boating, and tinkering in his workshop. After he and his first wife went separate ways, he married Peggy Smith, a Clinical Social Worker, in 1979, and they had a son. Together they enjoyed traveling in the U.S. and abroad to the British Isles and France to visit beloved cousins. Charlie and Peggy practiced together at the Counseling Center for decades. They also created the Testing Center, an automated psychological and career testing service, one of the first of its kind in the early 1980’s.
In his last years, he and Peggy retired and moved to the family cottage in South Chatham. There Charlie grew raspberries, blueberries, and rhubarb, walked the beach, and enjoyed meeting and making new friends while remaining connected to the many colleagues, long-time friends, and family members in Roanoke. He was never happier than when the family gathered for celebrations and beach time. He was an avid sports fan of all Boston teams, especially the Red Sox.
Charlie is survived by his loving family. He leaves behind his beloved wife and best friend of 45 years, Peggy, four children, Sandra and her husband Steve, Brian and his wife Sarah, Amy and her husband the late David Galin, and Morgan and his wife Casey. He also leaves nine grandchildren, Alex and his wife Emily, Nick and his wife Zoe, Satchel and his wife Monica, Sophie, Will, Ella, Bennett, Della, and Levy. He is also survived by his sister, Alice Holland Webster and three nieces, a nephew, and six great nieces and nephews. He will be missed by cousins in this country as well as in Great Britain, France, and Canada.
A private gathering of family will take place on the beach in Chatham, and a celebration of life is planned in Roanoke, Virginia this spring. The family suggests donations be made to Community School, 7815 Williamson Road, Roanoke, Virginia 24019.