Phillip Kent Holdaway was born on August 29, 1941 at Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah to Ross Thrower Holdaway and Erna Rogers. Phillip was the oldest of seven children and grew up on his family's dairy farm in Vineyard, Utah. Phillip loved living close to his extended family. He fondly remembered many happy years in Vineyard playing in grandpa's barn with his siblings and cousins. He enjoyed participating in sports and basketball, attending church meetings every Sunday, reading the Black Stallion books, listening to radio broadcasts and helping his father and grandfather with farm chores. Phillip woke up early every morning to help his father milk the cows and spent his summers harvesting sugar beets and driving the tractor through the hayfield. Phillip had a great love of music from an early age and played the trombone at Lincoln Jr. High and Orem High School. He participated in concert band, marching band, pep band and choir. In college he sang in the a capella choir and barbershop quartets. He continued to sing in church choirs throughout his life and passed on his love of music to his children. He loved listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and classical music, particularly Handel's Messiah. Phillip loved to learn and attended Orem High School. It was there that he first saw the swinging blond ponytail of a fellow classmate, Dianne Daley. He remembered looking through the yearbook and seeing Dianne's picture, proclaiming to friends that he was going to ask her out. Their first date was to the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City to see the film Ben Hur. Throughout his life, it remained one of his favorite films. While in high school, he joined the Army Reserve and diligently served his country for eight years. After high school, Phillip was called to serve as a missionary for two years in the Western States Mission. His mission covered five states--Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas. He loved his time as a missionary, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and serving the wonderful people that he met. After his mission, he returned home to Utah where his high school sweetheart, Dianne, was patiently waiting for him. They were married for time and all eternity in the Manti Temple on March 14, 1963. Dianne was the love of Phillip's life. They were rarely apart and spent their lives together raising a family and serving their community. A year later, they welcomed their first child, a daughter they named Teresa. Over the next several years Phillip and Dianne had five more children: Sheron, Jennifer, Jared, Michael, and Allison. Phillip cherished each of his children and loved being a father and later, a grandfather. Phillip attended Brigham Young University where he earned his bachelor's degree and then his master's degree in Animal Science. He worked in the BYU library and was a BYU sports fan his entire life. He loved watching BYU football and basketball and often spent Saturdays with his children at the church watching BYU games thanks to the building's satellite dish. After BYU, Phillip, Dianne, and Teresa moved to Columbus, Ohio so that Phillip could earn his Ph.D. at Ohio State University. Phillip loved his time at Ohio State and made many friends that he would keep in touch with for the rest of his life. After he graduated with a degree in Dairy Science, Phillip and Dianne moved their growing family to Maryland where he was employed at the University of Maryland. Eventually work led Phillip and Dianne to move to Sun Prairie, Wisconsin where they would live for the next thirty years. Phillip loved living in Wisconsin, but his heart was always in Utah. He would check the local news and weather in Utah every single day, and anticipated each summer when the family would drive their large van across the country to be with family in Utah. He loved holiday gatherings, sleepovers with grandchildren, family home evening, and attended as many of his children and grandchildren's concerts, performances, school plays, baptisms, and graduations as he could. He loved to be in the middle of family gatherings, even if he sometimes fell asleep mid-discussion. He loved to play games and read, and he often had a Tom Clancy, Herman Wouk, or Gerald Lund book in his hand. Phillip loved the color green, was a World War II buff, and enjoyed watching Ohio State, Wisconsin and Packers football. He liked watching James Bond films, BYU TV, the Hallmark Channel, and Perry Mason. Growing up on a dairy farm Phillip drank a large glass of milk (or two) a day. He indulged in vanilla ice cream, coconut cream pie, and piña coladas. He loved eating shrimp, potatoes in any form, and pizza with all the toppings. Phillip lived the gospel and had a strong testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He had a great love of people and served faithfully in the community and his many church callings over the years. Phillip worked tirelessly in his church as bishop, high counselor, stake Sunday school president, elders quorum president, ward clerk, and as a counselor in several bishoprics. He was a dedicated home teacher and minister for many years and rarely missed a visit. Phillip was a temple worker in three temples: Washington D.C., Chicago, and Mount Timpanogos. His longest calling was as the stake young single adult advisor and he received a commendation from the mayor of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, for his many years of work in the Cub Scout program. However, anyone who knew Phillip, knew that his passion was genealogy and family history. Phillip was known at his church as the "greeter" and was often the first to welcome new families into the ward. He loved doing research and making connections with people by last name. He called many people "family" or "cousin" who were distantly related at best, and he could be seen carrying a flash drive around his neck filled with the names of the many ancestors in his family tree. He never missed an opportunity to waylay some unwitting suspect into an hour-long conversation about their family history and find a way to make a connection with them. He loved sharing the stories of his pioneer ancestors and was proud to be a Holdaway. Phillip passed away peacefully on December 22, 2019 surrounded by family and loved ones. He was preceded in death by his parents Ross and Erna Holdaway, his brother Ivan (Maryann) Holdaway, his sister LeAnne, (Carl) Virchow, and his great-grandson Milo Jude Sorensen. He is survived by his beloved wife Dianne and their six children Teresa (Gary) Whitehead, Sheron Clark, Jennifer (Luke) Ashby, Jared (JoyLynn) Holdaway, Michael (Megan) Holdaway, and Allison Holdaway, as well as 15 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren, brothers, sister, nieces, nephews, and numerous other relatives. We know that there is a great reunion happening in heaven and that Phillip is greeting all of the relatives he cherished throughout his life." Condolences offered to the family at www.walkersanderson.com