Patricia Terry Holland, a faith leader and wife of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, has died at the age of 81. 

Holland, or Sister Holland as she was known, was known for her devotion to the church and her family. She died peacefully after a brief time in the hospital.

"Pat will be remembered for her commitment to faith and service and for her love of family," an obituary from the church read.

Religious leader dies

Holland had a religious upbringing in rural Utah, where she grew up on a farm. When she was a teenager, her family moved to St. George, where she met her future husband - "the handsomest boy in the school”- at Dixie High school.

They kept in touch while her future husband was away in England on a mission. Marriage came in 1963 and three children followed.

Holland studied at LDS Business College (renamed Ensign College) and Dixie College (now known as Utah Tech University), also taking lessons in voice and piano at Juilliard in New York.

Her husband remembers a devoted wife who gave up a musical career to be by his side. She worked for the Church Educational System to support her husband while he received his education at Brigham Young University (BYU) and Yale.

"She literally put me through school while she continued to go and had walked away from a musical career to come home and marry me,” Jeffrey Holland said. “I can’t overstate the incredible gift that a companion can give to another.”

Faith and family

When her husband became president of Brigham Young University in 1980, Holland became a "mother to the whole campus," her husband said.

In 1984, Sister Holland became a counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, a role she served in for two years. She also served as president of the Relief Society, a philanthropic women's group.

Holland was also an author of several books. She unapologetically advocated family life in her writings, celebrating the role of wives and mothers.

"If your role or assignment is a supportive one — and many of us will often have that role — we must study and prepare ourselves enough to clearly state to the world that we are not apologizing for strengthening the home, but are rather pursuing our highest priorities, personally, socially and theologically," she said in one speech.

Holland is survived by her husband, three children, and 13 grandchildren.