Obituary for Lawrence Lester Claribel Holas
Lawrence Lester Holas
Sunrise: January 15, 1945
Sunset: June 15, 2019
Lawrence, known by many names including “Clarie”, “Larry”, and “Bogart”, was born in Sauteurs, Grenada, West Indies. He graduated from Grenada Boys Secondary School and was the Principal of a Woodworking Centre.
In the early 70s, Lawrence ventured to Canada on a Canadian government scholarship to attend the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology where he studied refrigeration and air conditioning.
Lawrence married his high school sweetheart, Elma, in 1971. Their two daughters, Dawna and Nicole (Andrew) were born in Grenada. After immigrating to Canada in 1974, Lester (Crystal) was born in 1975.
Lawrence worked at Fireco and Alberta Wood Products before joining the Calgary Police Service in 1978, becoming the first West Indian police officer to join the Service. He worked in the Patrol, Traffic and Community Liaison Units as well as working with Race Relations Unit and the Traffic Collision Reconstruction Unit. He was an instructor at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa and the Institute of Police Technology and Management in Jacksonville, Florida.
Lawrence’s son Lester followed his father’s footsteps into law enforcement, as did Dawna in forensics with the RCMP, and Nicole is a lawyer.
In his retirement, Lawrence enjoyed spending time with his family. He helped Lester build his house, made short trips to Vancouver to visit Dawna to sit by the ocean and watch the ships, and drove across the island of Newfoundland with Nicole. Lawrence also enjoyed taking impromptu road trips with his wife. He was an airplane enthusiast and could tell you the make and model of an airplane from its undercarriage. He visited the engineering feats of the Hoover Dam in Nevada, the Confederation Bridge in Prince Edward Island and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Lawrence was very proud of his Grenadian heritage and shared the food, music and traditions of the Isle of Spice with his family and friends.
Lawrence is survived and will be lovingly remembered by his wife and children and a large network of family and friends all over the world.
In lieu of flowers, donations made in Lawrence’s name to Canadian Kidney Foundation are gratefully appreciated.
A Celebration of Lawrence’s Life will be held on Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 1:00 pm at the Cuff & Billy Social Club, 3730 Westwinds Drive NE, Calgary, AB. Colorful clothing is strongly encouraged.
To view and share photos, condolences and stories of Lawrence, please visit www.choicememorial.com.
Sunrise: January 15, 1945
Sunset: June 15, 2019
Lawrence, known by many names including “Clarie”, “Larry”, and “Bogart”, was born in Sauteurs, Grenada, West Indies. He graduated from Grenada Boys Secondary School and was the Principal of a Woodworking Centre.
In the early 70s, Lawrence ventured to Canada on a Canadian government scholarship to attend the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology where he studied refrigeration and air conditioning.
Lawrence married his high school sweetheart, Elma, in 1971. Their two daughters, Dawna and Nicole (Andrew) were born in Grenada. After immigrating to Canada in 1974, Lester (Crystal) was born in 1975.
Lawrence worked at Fireco and Alberta Wood Products before joining the Calgary Police Service in 1978, becoming the first West Indian police officer to join the Service. He worked in the Patrol, Traffic and Community Liaison Units as well as working with Race Relations Unit and the Traffic Collision Reconstruction Unit. He was an instructor at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa and the Institute of Police Technology and Management in Jacksonville, Florida.
Lawrence’s son Lester followed his father’s footsteps into law enforcement, as did Dawna in forensics with the RCMP, and Nicole is a lawyer.
In his retirement, Lawrence enjoyed spending time with his family. He helped Lester build his house, made short trips to Vancouver to visit Dawna to sit by the ocean and watch the ships, and drove across the island of Newfoundland with Nicole. Lawrence also enjoyed taking impromptu road trips with his wife. He was an airplane enthusiast and could tell you the make and model of an airplane from its undercarriage. He visited the engineering feats of the Hoover Dam in Nevada, the Confederation Bridge in Prince Edward Island and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Lawrence was very proud of his Grenadian heritage and shared the food, music and traditions of the Isle of Spice with his family and friends.
Lawrence is survived and will be lovingly remembered by his wife and children and a large network of family and friends all over the world.
In lieu of flowers, donations made in Lawrence’s name to Canadian Kidney Foundation are gratefully appreciated.
A Celebration of Lawrence’s Life will be held on Thursday, June 27, 2019 at 1:00 pm at the Cuff & Billy Social Club, 3730 Westwinds Drive NE, Calgary, AB. Colorful clothing is strongly encouraged.
To view and share photos, condolences and stories of Lawrence, please visit www.choicememorial.com.