Daniel Joseph Holland

Daniel “Dan” Holland died peacefully at the age of 87 at Rose Court in Hingham on January 25, 2023.

Dan is survived by his loving wife, Patricia (Pat) Holland, nee Kramer, his three siblings, Thomas Holland (Mary), Michael Holland (Louise, dec.), Patricia Katz (Ron, dec.), and his seven children, Joseph Holland, Margaret Holland Sparages (Narge), Kathleen Bacon (Andrew), Maureen Dibble (Tim), Jeanne Tennebo (Per), Elizabeth Athanasoulas (Jamie), and Michael Holland (Kati). Father-in-law of Frances. He was also a devoted grandfather to 19 grandchildren.

Dan was born in Cleveland Ohio on January 12, 1936, to Joseph and Mary Holland. He attended the newly established St Edwards High School in Cleveland in 1950 and went on to study engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology followed by a Master’s in Business at the Harvard Business School.

After marrying Pat in 1961, Dan pursued a career in banking with the First National Bank of Chicago. He then became a pioneering venture capitalist, joining arguably the first venture capital company called American Research and Development in 1969. From 1978-2000, Dan founded and managed a number of venture capital firms starting with Mass Capital Resources, Morgan Holland Ventures, One Liberty Ventures and finally Flagship Ventures.

Dan lived in the outdoors on weekends and holidays, playing sports and gathering with family and friends. He loved being on a boat and would wake up at 5 AM most summer weekends, setting off from Hingham Yacht Club to scuba dive for lobster to feed his family of nine. He would then go out and put in a good run to train for the numerous marathons and finish that in time to be able to coach his children in whatever sport they were playing that weekend. During the working week, he would drive in early to the University Club, his home away from home, to exercise and to socialize with his friends and, later in life, he looked forward to the Tuesday night poker games where he could put his card skills to work. He also loved to dance and put in hours of practice on the dance floor so that he could gracefully lead his wife around the ballroom.

A funeral Mass will be held at Resurrection Parish, 1057 Main Street Hingham on January 31st at 10:30 AM. Visiting hours will be held from 4 PM to 8 PM on January 30th at Keohane Funeral Home, 21 Emerald Street, Hingham.  For those unable to attend the Funeral Mass in person, please join virtually by clicking the link below.

Live Streamed Funeral Mass

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Joseph and Mary Holland Endowed Scholarship. At St. Edwards High School, 13500 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood, OH, 44107.