November 29th, 2018

We are happy to enjoy the music of Dr. Robert Culbertson and the Lamar University Faculty Quintet.   Thank you for your excellent performance

Tonight, we are gathered to celebrate the lives and career of Dr. and Mrs. James L. Holly.
While your dinner is being served, I am honored to introduce these two remarkable people.  Here is what others have said about Carolyn and Larry:

Thank you for joining us for the Retirement Celebration for Dr. and Mrs. James L. Holly.  I have known the Hollys.

Tonight, we will hear many things about Larry and Carolyn Holly.  We start with two quotes from colleagues in the medical community.

From a Beaumont Physician, Joe Holland, M.D.

‘I can think of no one who has had more of an impact on Southeast Texas medicine than Dr.  Holly.  He has touched many lives, directly and indirectly...and that includes a former young medical student in 1978.  When God welcomes Larry and Carolyn into his permanent kingdom, he will most surely say, ‘Well done, my son, well done indeed’. I can only echo that Larry.  Congratulations my dear friend!” 

Upon the endowment of the Dr. and Mrs. James L. Holly Distinguished Chair in Patient-Centered Medical Home at UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine, Mr. Ted Carpenter, Former President of Universal American Medicare Advantage Program, wrote:

“Our organization works with thousands of physicians across the United States.  Further, we collaborate with dozens of physician leaders who dedicate themselves to organizing outstanding patient care by seeking new and innovative ways to improve the entire patient care process.  We are very fortunate to work with some of the very best physician leaders in the country.

“That said, Dr. Holly is in a league by himself.  His energy, passion, and unrelenting commitment to improving quality of care is without equal in my experience.  He drives positive change within his practice and community, implements value-added technology to improve clinical outcomes, reads and write prolifically regarding clinical and public health issues and generously shares what he has learned with all interested parties across the United States.

“Under Dr. Holly’s leadership, SETMA has been honored countless times for their innovation, technology and services to the community.  By far, however, their greatest accomplishments is the care and quality that each SETMA patient receives. They are the real beneficiaries of this extraordinary physician practice.” 

Introduction by Dana Melancon

At this time, Reverend Charles Burchett, Pastor of First Baptist Church, Kirbyville, Texas, will lead our innovation and blessing of the evening and the meal.  Reverend Burchett and his wife Beverly have been dear friends with the Holly’s for 45 years.

Audio for Reverend Charles Burchett's Invocation

We have gathered here this evening to honor and express our appreciation for Dr. James L. Holly and his wife, Carolyn.  As I begin this time of honor and appreciation with prayer, I know that one of the best ways to honor the Holly’s is to honor their God, so I invite each of you to join with me now as I do that.

Heavenly Father, by Your loving and merciful revelation to us, we know that You are Jehovah Elohim.  It is with great joy, in the presence of these witnesses, that I praise You for being the only One true God.  There is no God but You, Jehovah Elohim,  and Jesus is Your only begotten Son, THE Creator and Sustainer, THE Redeemer and King of all that was, is, or will be.

I join with my long-time friends, I join with Larry and Carolyn in thanking You, Jesus, for being Lord and Master over, Friend and Brother to, and Savior and King for us, for many others here, and for millions of people around the world.


Spirit of the Living God-Man and Messiah I thank You for teaching Your Word for decades to and through Larry and Carolyn so that hundreds of men, women, and children have come to know You and know You more.

Holy Spirit, I thank You for building the virtue and character of the Lord Jesus Christ into Larry and Carolyn so they could demonstrate and display His virtue and character to their family, friends, neighbors, patients, co-laborers, and even to strangers.

And, Spirit of Truth and Holiness, during this time of transition, which surely includes some uncertainty, I thank You for being their encouraging and strengthening Comforter.  As you number their days and order their steps, I ask You to give them many more opportunities to see hundreds more come to know You and know You more.

Father, I also want pray for all who have come to honor and bless Larry and Carolyn tonight, and for all the partners and staff of the South East Texas Medical Associates.  So in their behalf I lift up to You the words of King David, a man after Your own heart:

Heavenly Father, I ask You to give them grace so that they will personally choose to worship You with reverence, rejoice before You with trembling, and so that they, with love and honor, will bow their lives in submission to Your Son, Jesus, and faithfully take refuge in Him as Lord and Savior everyday. {Psalm 2:11-12}

One more thing, Father, as Mr. Melancon administrates the rest of this evening, I ask You to bless him with wisdom from above that helps him continue to help us give honor and express our appreciation to the Holly’s.

In behalf of all of us I thank You, Lord God, for blessing us with the unconditional love and faithful friendship of Dr. and Mrs. Holly.  In the glorious Name of Jesus, the Lord God Almighty, Amen!

Introduction by Dana Melancon

In 43 years of practicing medicine, Dr. Holly has principally worked with three nurses.  Mrs. Patsy Bobo, Mrs. Kay McIlrath and Mrs. Rebecca Andrews.  All three are with us tonight.

From 2007 to 2018  Mrs. Andrews has been Dr. Holly’s partner in healthcare.  There is no place where the partnership of team work between nurses, healthcare providers and staff have been more critical to success.

Mrs. Andrew will share her experiences with Dr. and Mrs. Holly,

Audio for Rebecca Andrews’ Address

Good afternoon, My name is Rebecca Andrews and I have worked alongside Dr. Holly for the past 10 plus years as his nurse.  Throughout all of those years we have built a bond that makes me wish this day was not coming so fast.  Many days of memorable moments, laughter and joy.  One things for sure there was never a dull moment.  If you know Dr. Holly you know just what I mean. 

There have been many times when your bossy ways have made us frown and complain, But after the dust settled we've always admired your persistence to push us again and again. As sharing these years with you I have grown and learned allot. You always taught us to work hard, meet deadlines, practice perfection and manage time.  Per Dr. Holly it needs to be done Right and Right Now. Lol..

Today we are not saying goodbye to our boss who gave instructions.  Today we are saying goodbye to a leader who gave direction and a mentor who gave us inspiration. Thank you for all your support and encouragement.  Your contributions to our success are immeasurable.  You have contributed immensely to the company's success in so many ways.

 It is no gain saying that it will be difficult for anyone to surpass the good examples that you are leaving behind. You have accomplished many challenges as our leader but the biggest challenge of your retired life is about to begin, Finding something challenging to do. 

Now all of those selfies that you have taken can fill the pictorial dictionary at the word Worthless. You have always laid all the rules in the office now you will finally be on the other side as your wife lays all the rules at home.  The time has come for you to Relax, Entertain, Travel, Indulge, Read and Enjoy.  Blessings on your Retirement.  You will be missed like a bad tooth ache that I once had... LOL.

Introduction by Dana Melancon

Carolyn and Larry met in 1962 as sophomores at Northwestern State College now University.

Larry was 18 and Carolyn was 19 years old. They graduated in 1965.

NSU President, Dr. Chris Maggio is with us tonight.

Also, from NSU is Mrs. Jill Bankson, Associate Director of Development

Dr. Maggio will share with us his memories of Dr. and Mrs. Holly

Audio for Dr. Chris Maggio's Address

Dana, Thank you very much.  It is truly an honor to participate in this much deserved tribute to Dr. and Mrs. Larry Holly tonight.  It is appropriate that Dr. Holly is being recognized tonight by  a number of friends and colleagues for his significant impact across a wide spectrum of our society.  He has been a visionary leader in the health care in this region and throughout the state and nation for over four decades.  Those who know Dr. and Mrs. Holly are best aware of their major contributions to the social, cultural, religious, civic and educational endeavors in this area and far beyond.  

As I get started tonight I would like to give you a little context on how Dr. Holly and I met.  You see I wasn’t president of Northwestern State University at the time, but rather I was an Associate Vice-President and Executive Director of the NSU Foundation.  I wish I could say as Chief Development Office at our university that my staff and I complied donor research, used metric calculations, identified a list of perspective donors to the University, painstakingly prepared a donor proposal and spent years cultivating a large gift.  As I mentioned earlier, I wish I could say that.  

In reality, this is how the conversation transpired approximately seven years ago.   It was a telephone call received, not initiated by said Executive Director of the Foundation.  I answered the phone. ‘Hello, NSU Foundation, Chris Maggio speaking.’

‘Dr. Maggio this is Dr. Larry Holly and I’m a graduate of Northwestern State University, I grew up in Natchitoches, I began my college career at Texas A&M University but decided it wasn’t the best for me and I came back to Natchitoches and to NSU.  I thought I was going to graduate and go into the ministry.  

‘A few things changed, I did graduate and I’m so very appreciative of the education that I received there, it is important to me but also very important to me is I met the love of my life, Carolyn Bellue Holly there.  You see it was in a speech class and the story goes like this, well that’s a story for another time, but suffice it to say two of the biggest accomplishments in my life and the formation happened in Natchitoches and at Northwestern State University and I’m forever grateful and as a matter of fact I’m so grateful that I want to honor my wife and assist my university.’ 

Well, I responded and I said, ‘Dr. Holly, thank you so much I appreciate your love for NSU and the significance that it played in your life and I would love to visit with about opportunities in the ways that you can help Northwestern.’  I remember scribbling a little note on a notepad, , ‘received a phone call from Dr. Holly, wants to make a small gift to the University.’  Well the phone calls continued with Dr. Holly sharing a few more memories and I could tell as the conversation progressed that there was a passion and an importance in a few things.   

One, his genuine appreciation for the education that he received at NSU.  Secondly, the love and affection for his wife and this time in his life that brought them together.  The love for his parents and his wife’s parents and the importance of family in his life.  And, that this phone call  was not about him, rather he wanted to show appreciation for his university where he got his start.  Honor people that he loves very much and how an avenue to help others.  To give others a chance, a break, an opportunity that he had received five decades earlier.  As we hung up the phone, I scribbled on that notepad maybe not a small gift, maybe a little bit larger, something to honor his family and his self and his time at the university.  

Let’s fast forward a few months later, as communication continued.  ‘Chris this is Dr. Holly, lets plan a surprise at my 50th class reunion’.  Ladies and gentlemen, it was at that reunion when he presented not a small gift, not a little bit larger gift, but one of the largest gifts in the history of our university and a gift not in his name, rather gifts to honor other people in his life.  People that meant so much to him, his wife, his mother and his mother-in-law.  You see it was at that ceremony that evening that we announced the Carolyn Bellue Holly Distinguished Professorship in Teaching and Learning.  An endowed scholarship, the Marie Cobb Bellue Scholarship for Teaching and Learning for his mother-in-law and the Irene Woodruff Holly Scholarship in Health Professions Education in honor of his mother.  

I relay this story to you because it illustrates why we are here tonight.  To honor and recognize the generosity, the selflessness of Dr. Holly.  I could be up here tonight expounding on his accolades, his medical training, his entrepreneurial innovation, his writings, and lifelong achievements, but to me the person that I have gotten to know is an extraordinary man, doctor, husband, father and grandfather who is appreciative of the opportunities in life that began in that little north Louisiana town of Natchitoches, where he was born and where I have spent my entire life.  His love for that community and especially Northwestern State University where he received his undergraduate degree and met his wife is at the heart of the great respect and admiration that I feel for Dr. Holly.  

Dr. Holly, I can tell you that you have indeed helped your University where you graduated over 50 years ago with your undergraduate degree and you have helped it in a big way.  You have helped your alma mater by returning to speak to our pre-med students and providing them with insights in their chosen profession.  You have helped it by bringing prestige to our university  because of your amazing career in medicine and your subsequent induction into our university’s Hall of Distinction, The Long Purple Line, which is the highest honor we can bestow upon a graduate of our university.  

You have helped our university by the transformative financial gifts that you have given our university; gifts that allow our faculty to have means for research, travel and expanded teaching opportunities and for scholarships for students in health care and the education fields.  Dr. Holly, never did I image when I received that phone first phone call from you over seven years ago the significance and impact that communication would have on our university and for that I and your university are forever grateful.  Faculty members and students at your alma mater will benefit from your generosity for generations to come.  

There is a saying that the deeper the roots, the taller the tree.  Dr. Holly’s roots in Natchitoches and at Northwestern are deep and sturdy and that has been a factor in the great heights of prominence that he has reached in life.   

I want to congratulate Carolyn and you on an amazing career and thank you for your contributions to Northwestern State University and your contributions to mankind.  On behalf to the students, faculty, staff and administration, I am truly honored to be a part of this program and this salute tonight. Thank you very much.

Video 1 - Introduction, Invocation and Rebecca Andrews Address and the President of NSU’s address 

Introduction by Dana Melancon

Our next speaker is Dr. Bill Henrich is the former Dean of the UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine and for the past 9 years has been President of the Health Science Center.

Professionally and personally Dr. and Mrs. Henrich have been among the most influential contributors to the career of Larry and Carolyn.

Dr. Henrich will share with us his experience with Dr. and Mrs. Holly

Audio for Dr. William Henrich's Address

Well, Good Evening Everybody, It’s nice to be here.  I can’t tell you how honored we are to be a part of this group.  Before I make my remarks, I’d like to introduce the group that’s come over.  

I think we got off to a little bit of a bad start tonight in Beaumont.  We called for a limousine service to pick us up at the airport and they sent a hearse from Proctor’s Mortuary to pick us up.  I’ve got the card.  Do you know these people?   I made our Dean Rob Hromas lie down in the back of the hearse and when he protested I pointed out that it’s only a one letter difference between dean and dead.  

So here’s who’s here tonight from San Antonio and I’m going to introduce you as a group, so stay seated until I have introduced, do what I say this time:

1. The new Dean of the Long School of Medicine, Dr. Rob Hromas is here with his wife Sherri.  
2. The Department of Family Medicine Chair, Carlos Jaen is here with his wife Dianne.
3. Dr. Ruth Berggren who is head of the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics is here. 
4. Our distinguished Vice-President for Institutional Development and Advancement, Debbie Morrill is here along with 
5. Senior Associate Vice-President for Development, Patrick O’Hara.  
6. Director of Development for The School of Medicine, Steven Reese and 
7. My beautiful wife Mary attorney-at-law is here.  

Would you all stand up and be recognized please, I want you all to meet these nice folks in Beaumont.  

Now one more housekeeping detail.  I have asked Dr. Hromas, Dr. Jaen and Ruth Berggren to deliver several gifts for Larry and for Carolyn.  Let me describe them to you.  For Larry we have a commissioned watercolor portrait of his alma mater that is beautifully displayed here and I think Carlos is taking that to Larry.  We also have a special medallion recognizing Larry as a distinguished alumni of the school.  Given to him by Dean Hromas and then for Carolyn we have a gift of a Tiffany glass heart in her favorite color which is no surprise to anybody red.  So, please accept these gifts from us.

Now listen to this story carefully ladies gentleman because it’s a little complicated but I want you to understand the nuance of the meaning of this story.  I met Larry under what might be viewed as less than ideal circumstances.  I had been the Dean of The School of Medicine for about two weeks and I was informed that an alumnus of the school named Larry Holly, this was in 2006, was intent on leading a significant expansion of an endowment to honor Dr. F. Carter Pannill, who was the Dean of the school back when Larry was a student there.  No problem with that except that the University of Texas Board of Regents had dismissed Dr. Pannill years ago and therefore the creation of a much expanded honorific endowment for Pannill even though it occurred decades earlier could call into question the merits of the Boards dismissal of Dr. Pannill.  

(Dr. Holly: Amen)   You’re going to talk later Larry, this is my talk.  
In the process of deciding how to resolve this conundrum I immerse myself in the facts regarding Pannill and learned that he was a principled and inspiring leader, deserved much credit for the founding of the Medical School in San Antonio.  In fact, after leaving San Antonio, Pannill went on to become the President of the Medical School of the State University of New York in Buffalo, where he served for 18 years.  Talk about landing on your feet.  

The point of the story though, isn’t about Dr. Pannill or the Board of Regents or any of the actors in that opera 50 years ago.  I was intrigued, I was fascinated and inspired that five decades after the event an alumnus of the school would still be advocating to overturn a perceived wrong.  To make something right.  To burnish a legacy.

And then I learned that during the back and forth in this conundrum, Larry as a fourth year medical student had publicly challenged none other than the Chancellor of The University of Texas system in a newspaper article to be more open and transparent about this matter and not to embellish the facts to justify the Boards political decision.  

This took place 50 years ago when reprisals for what could be called insubordination carried a heavy penalty.   So I was astonished by this.  Here was a fourth year medical student standing up as a lone voice for what he believed in.  The very person in this whole situation who had the most to lose, was the medical student.  Qualities that Larry displayed then are now widely apparent to everybody in this audience tonight.  He possesses an idealism in pursuing the truth that was alive then and is alive now.  

He had the courage to act.  See courage isn’t knowing what’s right and then failing to act.  Courage is truth brought to light.  Even if there are political consequences.  Some, even may be fans of Harry Potter, remember what Dumbledore said to Harry in that fascinating series.  He said difficult days are ahead and soon it will be necessary to choose between what is easy and what is right.   

Larry is a person who will always strive to do what’s right.  Now Larry I’ve got tell you.  There is something to say to be said for judgement in these political spats and had you consulted me back in the 1970’s when this all occurred I might have given you some advice to do this just a little bit differently than taking on the Chancellor and the entire Board of Regents.   But how can you fault him.  How can you fault him for standing up for what he believed was right?  

Larry has been in primary care practice in Beaumont since 1975.  The SETMA practice he began in 1995 has been a kind of primary practice citadel, an example of compassion brought to life in the moderate era.  Very difficult to do.  He was years, some would say decades, ahead of his peers in medicine by establishing an electronic medical record in the practice and he developed intricate care delivery plans for the most difficult patients to achieve the best outcomes.  

Dr. Marvin Forland, a founding member of The University of Texas Long School of Medicine faculty, remembers Larry back from those days 50 years ago and he told me about an encounter he had with Larry 25 years ago and here’s the encounter.  Larry and Marvin Forland were having a dinner in San Antonio and Larry 25 years ago was telling him about the intricacies of this electronic medical record.  

Marvin made a critical mistake, he showed a little interest in it.  Larry dragged Marvin back to his hotel room and 4 hours later the tutorial ended, it was 1 o’clock in the morning.  I talked to Marvin Forland about this earlier this week and I wanted to tell you Larry he’s almost recovered from that evening.  

So in actualizing the seminal changes to his practice Larry, was, he is a crusader, he defied convention, he overcame obstacles, was always focused on benefit for the people in front of him.  Providing assistance.  SETMA’s providing assistance was simply built on taking superb care of people.  Taking care of everyone with emphasis on the word EVERYONE.  

Now using the word ‘citadel’ a minute ago to describe Larry and SETMA reminds me of a novel I read many years ago, a novel by the same name ‘The Citadel’ was written by a primary care physician in the coal country of Scotland named A. J. Cronin.   In the novel, Cronin describes the life and times of a primary care doctor in a small town in Scottish coal country.   And, to describe the doctor’s goal in delivering care to these people in this rural community, Cronin used a quote from scripture which I, with deference to our pastor, have paraphrased but here’s the essence of it.  It says, ‘but as for me I know that my redeemer lives and at the last he will come upon the earth and my eyes will behold him but not as a stranger’.  

These words convey the spiritual good imbued in healing and for believers, for people of faith, this gift of healing is a gift from God.  It renders the entire vocation of medicine as that of a higher calling.  My friends, Larry, has approached his work in medicine as a noble calling for over 40 years using his medical skills, his idealism, and his energy for good.  

And the last thing to say is this, Larry’s life as a physician is aligned with the nuanced motto of his UT Health School of Medicine alma mater, the motto reads very simply:  ‘We make lives better.’   This is meant to mean that the lives of the patient’s whom we are privileged to touch will improve.  That the learners we educate to minister to patients or do research will be enlightened.  That the scientists that we train will deploy the latest methodologies in discovery to cure and treat diseases where that now is not possible and that communities will be lifted up by our example of fidelity to the truth and our commitment to excellence.  

And my friends in its 50 years of distinguished existence, there is not one of our graduates who has made lives better with more enthusiasm, more courage, more innovation, or more heart than Larry Holly.  His accomplishments bring great honor to us, yes, but more importantly they bring and they have brought healing and example to this beautiful community of Beaumont in which he has served so ably and so well.  

God Bless you Larry, God Bless you Carolyn.  Thank you very much.

The Citadel and Dr. Henrich’s Address at Retirement Dinner 

Today, I listened to the audio file of Dr Henrich’s address at my retirement dinner. 

(https://www.dropbox.com/sh/20wl8j4k6498jar/AADq8rZQzlWtIUL5RXfKrPK5a?dl=0&preview=Henridge.mp3). A transcription is being prepared. 

 I am again struck with the creativity and originality of Dr Henrich’s speech. I am having it transcribed so they the text and the video tape of the evening can be accessed from my website. 

In his address, Dr. Henrich referenced A.  J. Cronin’s book, The Citadel, published in 1937.  In 1938, Robert Donat played the lead role in the movie of the same title.  Six years ago, I wrote an article about Patience-Centered Medical Home based on this book and movie.  See:  http://www.jameslhollymd.com/Your-Life-Your-Health/Citadel-A-1937-Introduction-into-the-Spirit-of-Patient-Centered-Medical-Home.  The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor, Movie and Director.  

The next year, 1939, Donat was nominated for Best Actor for his role in Good-bye Mr Chips.  Movie fans will remember that another actor was nominated for best Actor in 1939:  Clark Cable for the role of Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind.  And the winner was:  Robert Donat.  In 1989, a musical version of Good-bye Mr Chips was released. The two versions were equally good. 

There are two movies I would encourage every medical school student to see:  The Citadel and People will Talk (see http://www.jameslhollymd.com/your-life-your-health/medical-home-series-two-part-i-the-movie).

The following are links to additional information about UT Health and Dr Pannill:

http://www.jameslhollymd.com/Letters/pannill-cander-taylor-1972-history-of-heroes

http://www.jameslhollymd.com/Letters/ut-health-historical-summary-in-response-to-drs-henrich-and-berggren

Dr. Bill Henrich’s Final Response To Dr and Mrs James L. Holly

Dear Larry,

Thank you for assembling so carefully the many memorable elements of the event in Beaumont.    For me and for those of us who were able to attend, it was a not-to-be-missed evening for an exceptional person.  Also, speaking again for myself, it was an honor to be asked to speak at such an important occasion.

As we now have had time to replay the evening’s talks, I keep returning to Carolyn’s remarks:  thoughtful, sincere, devoid of clichés, candid and clear.    If it was not apparent before she spoke that your success was in very large part dependent on your partnership with Carolyn, it was certainly clear after she spoke to everyone that you have in your marriage a treasure of incalculable worth.

We (meaning Mary and I, Debbie and Frank and Carlos and Diane and Rob and Shari) love you and Carolyn.    Again, personally, I know when I leave my office, among the treasures I will count of highest value, is the fact that our paths crossed, that our friendship blossomed and that I was able to see you deliver to the citizens in your community the very best health care possible in our country.   

This accomplishment, made possible by your partnership with Carolyn, has been a “calling”.   

I know I speak for everyone in Beaumont, at SETMA, at your School of Medicine and anyone who has worked with you that you have made the practice of medicine better by demonstrating that an evidence-based comprehensive delivery system is possible to accomplish in modern times.     And everyone whom you and Carolyn have touched counts themselves fortunate to know and love you both.

With great respect, admiration and affection,




Bill

William L. Henrich, MD, MACP

President and Professor of Medicine
The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio
7703 Floyd Curl Drive
San Antonio, TX 78229-3900

This magnificent watercolor of the renamed Joe R. And Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio was executed by Mrs Kris Doyle.

The following link is to a letter to the Longs after the renaming ceremony. The letter identifies Mrs Kris Doyle as the painter of the magnificent watercolor of the renamed school.

http://www.jameslhollymd.com/Letters/joe-r-and-teresa-lozano-long-school-of-medicine

This is the letter I wrote to Mrs Doyle about her work.

From: James L. Holly
Sent: February 17, 2017 10:27 AM
To: Doyle, Kristine
Subject: watercolor

Ms. Doyle:

Attached is a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Long, which I have placed in the mail today.  I wanted to tell you how wonderful your watercolor is.  My wife and I have enjoyed fine art all of our lives and particularly enjoy watercolors.

Your conceptualization and execution of the renaming of the Medical School is brilliant and excellent.

Thank you for sharing your gift with us.

Larry Holly

From: Morrill, Deborah
Vice President, Chief Development Officer,
U T Health San Antonio

Thank you so much, Dr. Holly, for this thoughtful recognition of Kris.  Her dedication is inspiring, and Mr. and Mrs. Long love the painting and have it proudly displayed in a prominent place in their home.  Kris has been a blessing to our university in so many ways, but this contribution of her talents was truly extraordinary!  It added a beautiful dimension to the Long Naming Celebration that really touched Mr. and Mrs. Long and all of us and meant a great deal to me as well.

Sincerely,   Debbie

On Oct 1, 2018, at 8:12 AM, James L. Holly

Your work is excellent. I never tire of it.  By the way, I am a 49 year veteran of UT Health.  James (Larry) Holly, M.D.

On Oct 1, 2018, at 8:08 AM, Doyle, Kristine M

Thank you for your kind words. It was my honor to create this painting to celebrate our Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine and UT Health San Antonio. As a 41 year veteran of UT Health San Antonio, I have seen phenomenal growth and advancing sciences that have propelled our
university to greatness. I am proud to be a part of it!

Thank you again, Kris Doyle

Kris Enders Doyle  |  Senior Director of Marketing
UT Health San Antonio
Office of Institutional Advancement

Introduction by Dana Melancon

Dr. Holly and Mrs. Holly have shared the last 54 years together and they were close friends for the three years before that. Carolyn and Larry were married four years before starting medical school and it is fair to say that they “went to medical school together,”

It is equally true to say that their 43 years of the practice of medicine in Southeast Texas has been together. 


Dr. Holly will be the first to tell you that Mrs. Holly is an excellent diagnostician.  If you question that judgement, ask her who it was that diagnosed Dr. Holly when he contracted West Nile Virus in 2006.

Mrs. Holly, we are eager to hear your comments tonight

Audio for Carolyn Holly's Address

Alert Alert Alert!
It's the WIFE!

And as it should be, the dynamics in business associations are similar to marriage. You don't always agree; you don't always like each other, but you work hard toward a common good.

So as the wife, I have not been a casual observer.

That being said, tonight this has been a worthy tribute!

From my standing, I have seen the good, the bad, and now, the ugly.

Any married couple here this evening would not try to portray their marriage, any marriage, as all roses & chocolates. Who would believe that?

So with all the beautiful accolades of this evening and recent days from around the world , and, I re-iterate worthy praise, has poured in; I would not insult integrity by portraying that all has been rosy.

It has not been. There have been heart-wrenching obstacles of natural disasters, legal disasters, betrayal, crippling government regulation, personal disasters, death of a founding partner to cancer, to name a few.

But I have noted and commended your unity of purpose and determination. I was impressed and proud of you as you walked together through the matter-at-hand. And many times at crippling expense. You went w/o your own salaries in order to care for your employees and continued to work for the good of your patients. You carried on, undaunted in purpose.

That being said, I would like to give a few thoughts tonight on the "F" word!!

Bet that gets your attention!!.!!

The single most asked question of me as we have travelled around the speaking circuit of healthcare policy, medical home and informatics in management of healthcare, has been, "How do you keep up with him!" 

My reply, "I don't!"

There is a phrase we have heard: "He's a force to be reckoned with.""

So the "f" word is force!

The definition is: a push or pull upon an object. Whenever there is an interaction between two objects there is a force upon each of the objects. Forces only exist as a result of an interaction.

Let's think a moment about that word.  There is force for good, force of nature, evil force, like hate, jealousy, greed, love of money which Scripture tells us is the root of all evil.  And we all know too well the destructive force of a hurricane and of water.

There is a force for good like friendship, brotherly love, the redemptive force, the creative force... You get the idea. This is not an exhaustive rendering.

There are external forces and internal forces. It is an external force that brings us to tonight.

This was not of our choosing. I have my understanding of the forces at play that brought us here, tonight. You can have your own.



• So what is the driving force of a man who rises to make rounds at 2:30 in the morning?


• What is the force of the man who will take a 350+ page book and read it in a week-end and condense it to a software template to better facilitate management of a patient's care and to be better reimbursed for that care?


• What is the force behind the man who reduces his own salary by 60% in order to care for employees and partners, potentially risking the financial stability of his own family for others?


• What is the force of a man when gifted $200,000 by a wealthy businessman whom he met around SETMA-related affairs, refused to take the money for his personal enrichment, but insisted it be put in coffers of all partners? He never wanted any hint of impropriety.
  
  That is a rare man!


• What is the force of the man who comes up with the mantra for SETMA: "Healthcare where your health is our only care."
  
  I used to tell everyone, "if you are a patient you want him as your advocate. Because I have seen him not care about who he offended in order to get what was needed for the patient.
  
  That is the force of a man who is not self-serving. That's the force of a man who looks to the needs & cares of others to his own hurt.
  
  The Psalmists says of the righteous man: "He swears to his own hurt and changes not." Once he's made the commitment, he stands by it, no matter his bottom line.
  
  That's the force behind this man.


It is the force of integrity, commitment, fidelity, passion, a clear conscience.

That is the force from within; that is the force of character. That is a man you can trust & follow, who seeks for the good of others.

That is why I declare this is a meritorious tribute.

From where I stand before you tonight, I have walked through every step of this. I know of what I speak.

The Bible says that our lives are "an epistle written and read of all men. Written not with ink on tables of stone, but by the spirit on fleshly tables of the heart."

So, Larry, tonight you have heard some of the readings of your life as told by others. (Ref. Old television show, "This is your life!" This is your life as read & told by others.

We live in the day where story telling is encouraged. I would dare to say every person in this room is a story of our life.

Larry, without doubt, the epistle of your life, your story will live on and impact others for good.

So I say to all of you, people are reading your life. Words are cheap, saying the right things are not the epistle of one's life. It is the living, the deeds done.

Winston Churchill said it best:

"You make a living by what you get;
You make a life by what you give."

This man gave you his all.

So with the force of our internal character, we will reckon with this forced retirement, just as we have lived our life, with honor, integrity,

So to all of you, I adjure you to choose well because your epistle is being written and read.

Larry, as your wife, I stand to your honor; I stand in agreement; I stand in affirmation with all that has been said.

To all of you, May God bless you. And may the force for good, righteousness and peace be with you.

Larry, the only thing that could make this harder is if you were not at my side.

I leave you with a quote:

"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special."   Nelson Mandela.

Video 2 - UT Health San Antonio President Address and Carolyn Holly’s Address

Introduction by Dana Melancon

Dr. Holly’s career has spanned 43 years in Beaumont and a total of 46 years.  Tonight, he and Mrs. Holly officially bid farewell to Southeast Texas Medical Associates which itself will soon have a new owner.

Dr. Holly will share his reflections upon 75 years of life, almost 54 of them married to Carolyn and the last 23 plus years at the helm of SETMA.

Audio for Dr. James L. Holly's Address

(note added - before I begin, let me say, with the Presidents of the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio and of Northwestern State University sitting here,  "If I had to choose between the Distinguished Alumnus Awards both have given me, and hearing my wife's words, I would choose to have a wife who could and would say such things about me."  Thankfully, I don't have to make that choice and I say unashamedly and publicly, "Carolyn, I love you and thank God for you."

Valedictory is a farewell address on an occasion of "leave taking," but, what do you say when you stand before people with whom you have shared life for twenty-four to seventy-five years?  As I look around this room, I see hundreds of people who are dear to Carolyn and to me and, yet, you are also representative of many thousands who have contributed to our lives.  

I see the Cowards and the Collins, dear friends and patients.  I see the Stones and I see Lanell, with whose husband, Mark, I started SETMA. I see the four ladies - Rebecca, Cheri, Sandra and Conteaka -- who have staffed my clinic and collaborated in the care of patents.  And, I remember those who preceded them in the practicing of medicine. 

I see my family and close personal friends who have shared the joys and heartaches of the past 43 years.

It is impossible to name each one, although in the coming years, many of you will be written about. 

The good news is that even though our professional status is changing, our personal relationships will continue. 

I want to thank each one of you for honoring Carolyn and me with your presence tonight.  I am tempted to start naming you, but that would inevitably overlook many who are important to our story.

Therefore, I resist the temptation and silently thank God for each one of you.

As I stand here on the occasion of my "leave taking," I remember seminal moments in my life. 



• I don't remember the first time I met my mother and father - I was very young - but my first memories of them were the same as those I have years after their deaths.  They were wonderful and bigger than life to me.


• I remember how my life was defined by an experience in 1947 when I was four-years-old.  My father borrowed a wooden boat and we went fishing on Little River in Central Louisiana.  There were four of us and only three seats, so as the youngest, I sat in the bottom of the boat. 
  
  I did as any four-year-old would do, I rocked the boat.  That would come to be a metaphor for my life as in the intervening years I have rocked many boats.


• My academic career started when I was five-years-old in the first grade.  I couldn't count but my neighbor could, so my success in the first grade was "borrowed."  In the second grade, when I was six, I discovered that I couldn't see, and I was introduced to the world of corrective lenses.  My world became larger and clearer.


• When I was ten, I attended 4-H camp at Camp Grant Walker.  I was awarded the outstanding camper only because I could work harder and longer than anyone else.  This was the second seminal moment which would define my life.  I learned, you don't have to be very bright, if you are willing to work hard, and if you are willing to keep up the hard work over a long period of time.


• At twelve, I started high school, which at that time was the 8-12 grades.  In math class, I had my third seminal moment.  The teacher publicly told each student what he thought about them.  Before the entire class, he said to me, "Larry, you'll never be a leader.  You'll always do what other people tell you to do."  All of my life, I have worked to lead, direct and drive progress and development wherever I worked. 
  
  In 2012, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) named me a "Healthcare Change Agent." Earning that designation required me "rocking the boat," working harder than anyone, and setting the pace, the direction and the goals everywhere I worked.


• As a seventeen-year-old, I started Texas A&M College in pre-veterinary medicine and experienced my fourth seminal moment.  October 10, 1961. I trusted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, this would define the rest of my life. 
  
  Twenty five years later, in 1986, I related that history to a public meeting in Beaumont.  A lady in the audience turned to the young woman sitting next to her and said, "That's the most disgusting thing I have never heard."  The young woman said, "I know, that's my Daddy!


• In 1962, at eighteen and a sophomore at Northwestern State College, I saw the "girl" who would change my life.  Over the next several months we became good friends. 
  
  That "girl," Carolyn Ann Bellue Holly, sits here tonight as my wife of nearly fifty-four years. 


• At twenty, I spent the summer in Kenya, East Africa and in October, 1964 spoke to 2,000 students at the Baptist Student Union Convention.  I addressed civil rights and racial prejudice.  My message was not well received.

In May 1965, Carolyn and I graduated from NSU and in August, we married and started the adventure which would lead us to this evening. 

Just saying these words brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart.  Through the years, upon occasion, Carolyn would say, "Sometimes it's not easy being your wife;" to which I would respond, "Sometimes it's not easy being me." 

Other than my experience of personal salvation, our marriage is the most important, significant and rewarding experience of my life.  It is without exaggeration for me to say that it has been Carolyn's influence which has changed a relatively undisciplined and frivolous young man into what he is today.

Northwestern State College, where we met and fell in love, to this day, is an important part of our lives.

While a graduate student at Baylor, Carolyn and I decided to go to Medical School.  At that time, it never occurred to me that we would not be successful, but looking back now, I realize how improbable even acceptance to medical school could be. 

We graduated in 1973, having had both of our children in those four years.  UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine remains a central place in our lives. 

It may sound strange to some for me to say that "we" graduated, but we did it together.  Carolyn sat on a stool and read late at night when I was dissecting a cadaver.  She worked and made our home while "we" went to school.

In 1975, we moved to Beaumont.  Invited to join the Beaumont Country Club, we asked if African Americans and Jews could join.  We were told that no one had ever asked that.  We responded, "We're asking." 

After twenty-two years in solo practice, Drs. Wilson, Finley and I founded Southeast Texas Medical Associates, LLP.  Over the next twenty-three years - August 1, 1995 to November 29, 2018 -- through thick and thin, we built a premier multi-specialty medical practice and helped lead the transformation of healthcare in America.

Like other innovators and transformers, we pioneered electronic medical records, the application of analytics to healthcare and the adoption of the patient-centered medical home model of care.  We developed and built electronic solutions to the most complex healthcare challenges. 

As a result, SETMA has been presented multiple citations for excellence in healthcare delivery.  SETMA remains the only practice in America which simultaneously held accreditation for Ambulatory Care and Patient-Centered Medical Home by all four organizations which offer such accreditation.

With EMR and electronic patient management, SETMA has taken care of the most vulnerable patients and through the SETMA Foundation has supported the care of our patients who could not otherwise obtain care.  Tonight my hope is that these needy and noble people will continue to find excellent care in coming years.

In the past nearly forty-six years, people have come and gone.  My mind races across the years remembering the people whom I have cared for and truly loved, and who are not with us tonight.  Each one has enriched our lives and we are grateful for them.

No matter the difficulties which have brought us to our present circumstances, nothing can rob us of the memories, experiences, joy and triumphs of these years. 

And, nothing should rob us of a grateful spirit for the years the partners and staff of SETMA have given me the opportunity to create a laboratory of excellence in healthcare delivery. 

Through difficult times over the past three years, SETMA partners and staff have kept faith with those who have entrusted us with their health. 

And, through the compassionate spirit evidenced by the SETMA Foundation. through lean times, the partners and staff continued to support generously the needs of this community, often in the face of their own unmet needs.

I, as you, have often played the "what if" game.  "What if," this had changed, or, "what if" that had changed.  "What if" I had stayed at Texas A&M; I would not have met Carolyn - that would have been a tragedy.  "What if" we had moved somewhere other than Beaumont, our children would not have met their spouses, and that would have been a tragedy.  We would not have the eight remarkable young people we call "grandchildren" - and they are "grand" - and that would have been disastrous.

"What if" life were not like Solitaire.   What if, if the game does not turn out well, you could go back and make a different move and get a different result?   Unfortunately, as in Solitaire, in life there are no opportunities to try a different course and get a different outcome. 

In the Holly family, there is no desire for any "what ifs."  There is no change the Holly Family would make a different choice, not out of hubris, or complacency, but out of contentment and gratitude.

Tonight, we are grateful to God for our faith, our family, our friends.  We are grateful for Beaumont, for SETMA and for the forty-three years we have spent in this community.  I would not change anything out of the knowledge that if we could change one negative experience, it would be at the expense of all of the good ones, which are overwhelmingly the nature of our last five decades. 

If any change would mean not having known Beau, Hannah, Holly, Elizabeth, Emma, Kate, Richard Everett, and Wyatt, then, "Thank you, no."  We will celebrate the life we have known, with the good, the bad and the ugly.

But what about the future?  We don't know; but, we know the One Who knows. 

Carolyn and I will find a new way of relating as I will not leave home between 2 and 4 AM each day.  We will have a face-to-face relationship rather than telephone conversations and quick lunches. 

I smile as I think this because for me that will be wonderful, but for Carolyn...well, "sometimes it's hard being my wife." 

Carolyn and I have been blessed.  And, I say "Carolyn and I, "because for many of you the excellence of the care you have received has been the result of her tireless advocacy for you for 43 years.

We will have more time to spend at Northwestern State, and UT Health San Antonio Long School of Medicine.  We will teach and visit.   We will read and write.  I will probably go to Lamar University and renew by study of French which was suspended 55 years ago. 

I would like to write a book or a novel, or two, or three.  Each of the previous comments in this address have a story behind them.  I would like to tell those stories partially to help others learn how to tell their stories. 

I wonder if you will recognize yourself in my stories.  Surely the statutes of limitation have run on most of them.  But you are safe as my memories filter conflict or difficulties, and I remember only the best.

Jimmy Steward is not the only one who can confess, "It's a Wonderful Life."

Carolyn, on August 7, 1965, we both said, "For better or for worse."  It may frighten you a little, but it is thrilling to me, to say to you, "Now, more than ever, I am yours, alone, for better or worse."  Due to the benevolence of our God, I know it will all be for "the better." 

To the rest of you, I say, "Thank you for the memories."  We will always truly love you and be thankful for you. 

The phrase, "God bless you,' is not a social custom.  It is a fervent prayer for you and for all those you love.  It is a prayer that the richest blessings God has in His storehouse will be yours today and for every day of your life."

Farewell, dear friends and colleagues.  God speed to you. 

Together we continue our journey.  In different circumstances for sure, we continue our journey, but it certainly will be together.
Video 3- Dr Holly and the beginning of the public comments with David Stone, Muhammad Aziz, Rusty Mathis, Robert Culbertson, Theresa Bailey,