Russell Wayne Holden

Russell Wayne Holden passed away unexpectedly but peacefully in his home on October 31st, 2022, at the age of 70. Russell was born in Rome, GA and resided in Taylorsville, GA for most of his life. He was the son of the late William “Bill” Holden and Mary Jestine Kernes Holden, the brother to William Everette Holden (Gail) , the late David Lee Holden (Fay) , Mary Frances Holden Goswick (Travis), James Alvin Holden and the late Elizabeth Louise Holden O’Berry.

Russell is survived by the love of his life and his wife of 52 years, Kathy Diane Mullinax Holden, as well as 4 children, 1 daughter-in-law and 6 grandchildren which include; son, Ivan Holden and his children Levi and Leann Simmons; daughter, Amy Holden and his grandson, Taylor Ashton Kern; son, Barry Holden, wife Ann Holden and their three children Brandon Elrod, Allyson Elrod, and Bentley Holden; Son- Benji Holden.

Russell was predeceased by his grandson, Russell Wyatt Holden who was named after him and Dana Holden his daughter-in-law and late wife of his son, Ivan Holden.

Russell was the owner of Holden’s Roofing for over 30 years. He took great pride in his work and was a perfectionist to the point all his children could spot a roof he installed from the road. He always insisted every water line was perfectly straight, every ridge cap was perfectly straight and there was only one way to properly flash a house to prevent leakage. Although his work was labor some it was what he knew, and he was good at it. He often repeated the phrases; “short cuts lead to wasted money and wasted time” and “measure twice, cut once”. Russell often worked from daylight to dark and 7 days a week on many occasions. In his earlier years of roofing, he couldn’t afford a conveyer ladder to run bundles of shingles up to the roof, so he threw those 80 plus pound bundles up over his shoulder and carried them up the ladder himself and even nailed each one by hand.

Russell’s hobbies included hunting, fishing, gardening, cooking, canning, and painting. In his early years if he wasn’t on a roof, you could find him in a deer stand, hunting Turkeys in a blind or with a fishing pole in his hand. Russel enjoyed hunting and fishing like no other but also supplemented feeding his family with fresh fish and venison as well as home grown fruits and vegetables he froze or canned. He loved to share hunting and fishing stories with anyone who had the time to listen. He could talk for hours about the best fishing spots, the best bait, and the hunting stories were never in short supply. One of his favorite stories is about a deer he went to retrieve that was still alive and how it jumped up and came after him. He was forced to wrestle it to the ground. He fought the deer and of course, he won.

In later years, after retiring from roofing, Russell was an avid Gardner and owner of Holden’s produce. He enjoyed taking his produce to the farmers market and preserving it for his family to enjoy. Russell made sure to tell everyone the right way to grow strawberries. You must mound them just right and the best fertilizer for strawberries is 10.10.10, something he learned from his mother. He loved picking blackberries and those that didn’t find their way into one of his blackberry cobblers he sold at the farmer’s market. He was always one with nature and felt most at home there.

Russell had many items he collected and took pride in. He collected vinyl records and loved old country and gospel music. Russell’s favorite song you could often hear him singing was The Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton. His family now knows every word by heart. Some of his other favorites were ‘I’m going up, up, up to meet Jesus’ by the Joyful Airs and ‘Seven Spanish Angels’ by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson. He also collected coins and old fishing rods and reels that he restored. For many years his gun collection, antler collection and hunting trophies were on full display at his home, serving as proof of the many stories he told and his claim to being one of the best hunters around.

Russell was an amazing cook. He perfected his preparation and cooking of venison and frying up fresh fish. His children’s only regret is that he didn’t learn that skill sooner in life when they were still at home and the ones eating most of this. Russell took pride in making homemade biscuits and loved to tease his wife about the fact his biscuits were always better than hers, although she was generally the better cook between the two of them.

In his last year of life Russell refocused on another hobby of his and spent most of his waking hours painting and learning how to be a better artist. He completed around 200 paintings in that last year. Russell was working on his latest work of art on the day of his passing.

Russell never had a credit card and believed if you wanted something, you worked for it and saved until you had the money to buy it. He often said we all need to learn to live within our means. When all four of his children were born and times were very tight financially, he was told the hospital would cover the cost, but he wanted to own the responsibility of this himself. He had to make payments to the hospital, but he paid every dime of that cost himself for all four of his children. He often said to never put off on other’s that which is your responsibility and he lived by that until his last breath.

Russell will be greatly missed by his family and friends. His life’s work was hard on his body, and he suffered many ailments in his later years. It is with great sadness we lay him to rest. However, there is also a sense of relief we all feel on his behalf. His suffering and toil on this earth and in this life is over and he is now pain-free. While we mourn our loss, we also joyfully release him into our Father’s hands. He is now in his new home where he is reunited with his parents, other family and friends and loving on his precious name’s sake, baby Russ (Russell Wyatt Holden).

The family would like to thank each of you for joining us in celebration of his life, his story, his talents, his wisdom and his many worldly contributions.

A Celebration of Life Service will be conducted at two o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, the 8th of November, 2022 in the chapel of Owen Funeral Home with Rev. JR McWhorter of The Sanctuary officiating. Interment will immediately follow in Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church Cemetery. The family would like to invite all to gather with us at the church for refreshments after the graveside service.

Serving as pallbearers are, Taylor Ashton Kern (grandson), David Holden (nephew), Greg Holden (nephew), Kent Mullinax (nephew), Stacey Holden (family friend), Case Tilley (family friend) and Eric Landrum (family friend).

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family for two hours prior to service time at Owen Funeral Home.

Please visit www.owenfunerals.com to post tributes and sign the on-line register book.

Owen Funeral Home, 12 Collins Dr., Cartersville, GA 30120 is honored to serve Mr. Holden's family.