Nona Ellen Holland

Nona Ellen Holland, age 73, was born May 17, 1951, to the late Betty Joyce Mayo and the late Robert Bradley Holland, while her father was recalled to the U.S. Navy and stationed in San Diego, CA. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at an early age, but never allowed it to be a disability. 

Nona died November 15, 2024, at her residence in Buchanan, TN.

She attended public schools in North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, and Kentucky and graduated in 1969 from Fulton County High School in Hickman, KY. She received her B.S. degree from U.T. Martin in 1973. Nona found joy working in the office supply business for several years, before working with Tennessee Vocational Rehabilitation. Nona always remembered how they had helped her in the past. For over twenty-five years she counseled and worked with her clients. Nona had an unfair advantage over them, it was hard to tell her, “You don’t understand” as she counseled. She earned a master’s degree in education from Mississippi State University in 1984 and was a certified vocational evaluation specialist as of 2011.

 Nona always had an ambitious desire for a place that could assist the disabled. She, along with Bob Leonard and others, bounced ideas off each other for several years. This would be the beginning of TARP more than 30 years ago. She was instrumental in writing the original grant that helped in securing the IRS 501c3 nonprofit status for nonresidential charitable funding and she served on the original TARP board.

 She is survived by one sister, Rebecca “Becky” Overcast; one brother, Paul (Brian Hobbs) Holland; two nieces, Amie (Jamie) Moore, and Heather (Brian) Burgess; two nephews, Timothy W. Overcast, and Matthew (Hannah) Holland; two great nephews, Brad and Houston Moore; four great nieces, Beka (Payton) Callison, Henslee Burgess, Lilah Burgess and Olivia Grace Holland; a great great niece Bailey Callison and one great niece on the way.

 Additional survivors include a host of friends, cousins, and other extended family members to cherish her memory.

 Arrangements are being handled by Ridgeway Funeral Home, 201 Dunlap Street/PO Box 788, Paris, TN 38242. The family has chosen cremation with no services scheduled at this time.