WSTR lost a great friend a few days ago with the passing of world famous bronze artist "H" Holden. H was a Hall of Fame artist best known for some of the greatest horse monuments in the world. H designed "THE FINALE" bronze as the top award for the WSTR Finale back in 2010 that has been presented to all winners of the WSTR Finale for the past 14 years . "H" Holden donated the casting for the "The Finale" as he wanted working class cowboys with ropes to have a lasting symbol of their achievement. He was a roper himself and understood the significance of his award.
"H" is shown here in 2010 presenting bronze #1 to Michael Gaughn, South Point Casino. That first bronze has the prestigious position of overlooking the Cantina bar in the Southpoint Arena. Our sympathies to his wife Edna Mae and all the Holden family!
A
Celebration of Life Service for Harold T. "H" Holden age 83 will be
2:00 pm Tuesday December 12, 2023 at Emmanuel Enid Church with Rev.
Shonn Keels and Rev. Wade Burleson officiating. A private burial will
precede the service in Memorial Park Cemetery. The family will receive
friends Monday, December 11, 2023 at the Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home from
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Arrangements are under the direction of
Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home and Crematory.
HAROLD
TWEED HOLDEN, or "H" as he is called by most folks, was born in Enid,
Oklahoma March 28, 1940, to Patrick Miles and Betty Jane Failing Holden.
Although H was the first professional fine artist in the family, he
comes from a family of creative and talented inventors and engineers.
championship, following prior championships won in boxing by his older
brother Tim.
After
graduating from Enid High School, H attended Oklahoma State University
but a trip to Houston to work on an oil rig in 1959 resulted in a chance
meeting with an instructor at the Texas Academy of Art where he
subsequently graduated with an art degree. He then began his career in
the commercial art field, working in Wichita, Kansas and in Houston,
Texas, where he eventually took the position of art director at Horseman
Magazine. While working during the day for other folks, H began his
fine art career at night, painting and sculpting his first love, the
West. He was completely self-taught as a sculptor.
In
1963 H married Mary Lou Church in Houston, TX and afterward Tim Patrick
Holden and Shannon Jane (Holden) Meyer were born. On March 22, 1989,
he married Edna Mae (Simmons) in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the Church at
Loretto and they built a loving partnership of over 34 years, raising
longhorns and quarter horses.
After
a tour of duty with the Navy during Vietnam aboard the USS Rainier, H
ventured out on his own in 1973, to try and make it as a professional
fine artist.
In
1987, He completed his first of many monuments, "Boomer" for the City
of Enid, Oklahoma. The image of Boomer was used on a U.S. Postage Stamp
and the symbol of the Cherokee Strip in both Kansas and Oklahoma.
Since that first monument 36 years ago H completed 24 additional
monuments.
Honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from Oklahoma State University in 2005.
A
member in the prestigious Cowboy Artists of America organization. Since
2013 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, in 2014, the
highest honor the state can bestow on one of its citizens.
The
first Oklahoma artist to be inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners
at the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City in 2017 in recognition of
his lifelong pursuit of capturing the West through his art.
His scheduled induction into the Oklahoma State University Hall of Fame on February 2, 2024.
H
is survived by his wife Edna Mae of the home, son Tim Holden (Allison)
of Clifton, VA, daughter Shannon Meyer (Marty) of Enid, sisters Katy
Rieger (Warren) of Tulsa, OK and Myrlane Mendenhall (Ken) of Edmond, OK
and grandchildren Payton Meyer, Morgan Meyer, Silas Holden and Benji
Holden, brother-in-law Bill Simmons of Granbury, TX. He is also survived
by a multitude of cousins, nieces and nephews, friends, collectors, and
fellow artists that he considered brothers. He was proceeded in death
by his parents, his big brother Tim (Joyce) Holden and his first
grandson Patrick Martin Meyer.
In
lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the National Cowboy and
Western Heritage Museum, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, Oklahoma State
University Foundation with Ladusau-Evans Funeral Home, P.O. Box 3501
Enid, 73702 serving as the custodians of the funds.
