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The other day I referenced a retired US Marshall. I did a search out of curiousity and was greatly saddened to see he'd passed. I'm feeling a tad guilty. I've copied his obit, it makes interesing reading.
Stan was also featured in the training video Ultimate Survivors.
Obituary: Stan Holland / Retired Deputy U.S. Marshal, noted firearms instructor
Sept. 18, 1946 -- May 19, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Most law enforcement officers won't fire 125,000 rounds in their entire careers.
Retired Deputy U.S. Marshal Stan Holland fired that many every year.
One of the most respected firearms instructors in the country, Mr. Holland died of a heart attack Saturday at home in McKeesport. He was 60 and had spent the day concentrating on the pastime he loved most -- shooting.
Though he retired from the U.S. Marshals in 2005, Mr. Holland continued to serve as a firearms instructor for the state constables continuing education program. He had also taught at the Allegheny County Police Academy and McKeesport Sportsmen's Association.
Mr. Holland served as the primary firearms instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Ga., from 1985 to 1988.
After that, he returned to the Pittsburgh marshals office, where he served as the warrants supervisor.
"If we anticipated any danger, we wanted Stan and his guys there," said Andrew Hromoko Jr., with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division. "I was out on a couple situations where your heart is really pumping, but when you looked to your side and saw that smile, you knew you were going to be OK."
Mr. Holland was the National Rifle Association's pistol champion for 1985, and won the national U.S. Secret Service competition in the 1980s.
"He worked extremely hard at it," said Jim Ellis, a fellow deputy U.S. marshal and firearms instructor.
It wasn't just the shooting that Mr. Holland enjoyed -- he studied ballistics, recoil and velocity, Mr. Ellis said. He could do the calculations to figure out trajectory and how far off a bullet would be with a misaligned sight.
He could read an article about a new firing technique -- or see it used just once -- and be able to replicate it, he said.
His wife, Linda, said target shooting was a sport, but for her husband it had a practical side. It could save someone's life.
It was rewarding for Mr. Holland when he heard from a marshal he had trained who was involved in a shooting that had a successful result, said Larry Likar, a retired FBI agent and now the chair of the justice, law and security department at La Roche College.
The two men served on Pittsburgh's fugitive task force together.
"Firearms is almost a form of meditation, with the precision and concentration it takes," Mr. Likar said.
For Mr. Holland, his philosophy for competitive shooting was that he was never competing against someone else -- only himself, Mr. Likar said.
Carl Nagy, now the Pitcairn police chief and a longtime friend of Mr. Holland's, met him at a shooting competition in 1982.
"I never ceased to learn from him," he said.
Mr. Holland majored in history education in college, but he found law enforcement to be his calling. He joined the U.S. Marshals in 1970. In 1973, he was called to Wounded Knee, S.D., to work the 71-day standoff between the American Indian Movement and the federal government.
Besides his love for shooting, Mr. Holland had many other interests. He was a history buff and an avid reader of nonfiction. He loved animals, and was able to retain information on almost any topic.
"It was always so amazing to me that he retained everything he'd been exposed to -- ever," Mrs. Holland said. "Once he got interested in something, he went crazy and learned everything about it."
One of the things she loved best about him, she said, was that her husband treated everyone the same way.
"He never would judge anyone," Mrs. Holland said. "A friend of his said, 'He could meet the president, and he'd talk to him the same way he would a prisoner he was arresting.'"
They were married for nearly 36 years. After their first date, while in Delaware, Mrs. Holland returned home and told her roommate, "I met the guy I'm going to marry."
In addition to his wife, Mr. Holland is survived by a brother, Richard A. Holland of West Newton.
....................
Stan was also featured in the training video Ultimate Survivors.
Obituary: Stan Holland / Retired Deputy U.S. Marshal, noted firearms instructor
Sept. 18, 1946 -- May 19, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Most law enforcement officers won't fire 125,000 rounds in their entire careers.
Retired Deputy U.S. Marshal Stan Holland fired that many every year.
One of the most respected firearms instructors in the country, Mr. Holland died of a heart attack Saturday at home in McKeesport. He was 60 and had spent the day concentrating on the pastime he loved most -- shooting.
Though he retired from the U.S. Marshals in 2005, Mr. Holland continued to serve as a firearms instructor for the state constables continuing education program. He had also taught at the Allegheny County Police Academy and McKeesport Sportsmen's Association.
Mr. Holland served as the primary firearms instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Ga., from 1985 to 1988.
After that, he returned to the Pittsburgh marshals office, where he served as the warrants supervisor.
"If we anticipated any danger, we wanted Stan and his guys there," said Andrew Hromoko Jr., with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division. "I was out on a couple situations where your heart is really pumping, but when you looked to your side and saw that smile, you knew you were going to be OK."
Mr. Holland was the National Rifle Association's pistol champion for 1985, and won the national U.S. Secret Service competition in the 1980s.
"He worked extremely hard at it," said Jim Ellis, a fellow deputy U.S. marshal and firearms instructor.
It wasn't just the shooting that Mr. Holland enjoyed -- he studied ballistics, recoil and velocity, Mr. Ellis said. He could do the calculations to figure out trajectory and how far off a bullet would be with a misaligned sight.
He could read an article about a new firing technique -- or see it used just once -- and be able to replicate it, he said.
His wife, Linda, said target shooting was a sport, but for her husband it had a practical side. It could save someone's life.
It was rewarding for Mr. Holland when he heard from a marshal he had trained who was involved in a shooting that had a successful result, said Larry Likar, a retired FBI agent and now the chair of the justice, law and security department at La Roche College.
The two men served on Pittsburgh's fugitive task force together.
"Firearms is almost a form of meditation, with the precision and concentration it takes," Mr. Likar said.
For Mr. Holland, his philosophy for competitive shooting was that he was never competing against someone else -- only himself, Mr. Likar said.
Carl Nagy, now the Pitcairn police chief and a longtime friend of Mr. Holland's, met him at a shooting competition in 1982.
"I never ceased to learn from him," he said.
Mr. Holland majored in history education in college, but he found law enforcement to be his calling. He joined the U.S. Marshals in 1970. In 1973, he was called to Wounded Knee, S.D., to work the 71-day standoff between the American Indian Movement and the federal government.
Besides his love for shooting, Mr. Holland had many other interests. He was a history buff and an avid reader of nonfiction. He loved animals, and was able to retain information on almost any topic.
"It was always so amazing to me that he retained everything he'd been exposed to -- ever," Mrs. Holland said. "Once he got interested in something, he went crazy and learned everything about it."
One of the things she loved best about him, she said, was that her husband treated everyone the same way.
"He never would judge anyone," Mrs. Holland said. "A friend of his said, 'He could meet the president, and he'd talk to him the same way he would a prisoner he was arresting.'"
They were married for nearly 36 years. After their first date, while in Delaware, Mrs. Holland returned home and told her roommate, "I met the guy I'm going to marry."
In addition to his wife, Mr. Holland is survived by a brother, Richard A. Holland of West Newton.
....................
