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Alexander Parks Holland Software Engineer, Entrepreneur
Alexander Parks Holland Software Engineer, Entrepreneur
Alexander Parks Holland, 29, of Charleston, South Carolina, passed away Monday, March 6, 2023, after fighting a courageous 15-year battle with addiction and mental health challenges. Alex had a strong faith in our Lord which provided him with much strength, particularly in his young adulthood. He continually worked to improve his life and tried to rise above his pain.
Alex shared his great sense of humor, big personality, and massive open heart with others. Alex was fearless and determined. Alex had very fond memories of his childhood in Pennington, NJ. During his nursery school and elementary years, Alex made his core group of childhood friends, whose families continued to love and support him throughout his life. Alex found it easy to make friends and was a great friend in return. Alex looked up to his big brother David and was so proud of him. He loved creating art, playing ice hockey and lacrosse, skiing, and watching Leave It to Beaver reruns. Alex particularly enjoyed family ski trips and summer vacations in Avalon and Stone Harbor, NJ, as well as holidays spent with his extended family.
During his high school years, Alex’s struggle with his health caused some challenges. Alex attended the Hun School of Princeton, Princeton, NJ, Christchurch School of Christchurch, Virginia, and graduated from The Hyde School, Woodstock, Connecticut, May 2013. Instead of lamenting the fact that he went to multiple high schools, Alex was grateful for all of the friends and learnings he gained from each of the diverse communities. Alex played varsity golf at The Hun School. He was the JV lacrosse captain at Christchurch School. At Hyde, Alex played varsity football and varsity lacrosse. Alex was chosen for the Hyde Leadership Society. His first entree into business was as the student lead on the Bryant University Marketing Bulldog Challenge, where Alex’s team placed third among the high school teams. Alex was the recipient of the Hyde School Dawes Senior Year Merit Scholarship, chosen for his leadership, resilience, and grit.
Alex attended the College of Charleston during the years 2013-2015, where he enjoyed playing club lacrosse. He made several lifelong friends while at the College of Charleston, who remained a close support and loving force throughout his young adult life. While at the College of Charleston, Alex created the concept for and cofounded StudyBank LLC, an educational platform startup that rewarded students for their time spent studying in the library, with incentives from parents and local businesses. StudyBank was one of the first apps to incorporate crowdsourcing as a feature. When the software team that was hired for StudyBank failed to complete a working app, Alex decided to follow his passion by learning to code so that he could bring his product to fruition. Alex was a self-starter and motivated as a self-learner. His early days in the field were spent teaching himself how to code, using online Udemy courses. In September 2016, Alex completed a full stack software development course at General Assembly, Washington, DC. After completion, Alex went to work for VS Networks in Lancaster, PA, as a Junior Software Developer from 2016-2018. He designed digital signage that supported customized marketing solutions for clients in the retail channel.
Alex’s love for Charleston and his close friends there took him back south in 2018. Alex founded The React Guys, a software development consultancy. The React Guys concept was based on Alex’s belief that the software language of React was going to prove to be one of the most popular languages moving forward. Alex was an expert in React and Amazon AWS. In 2020, Alex and his team of software developers were instrumental in architecting and building the fpvexchange.com, which remains a popular drone parts website. In 2022, Alex partnered with his close friend Connor Alexander who owned a social media company. They merged their two companies to launch metaCubes LLC where he worked until his passing. Alex was the CTO, architecting the software for clients and leading the technology team. Most recently, metaCubes LLC was awarded a contract to build a major sports memorabilia site. Alex loved to mentor other software developers and he gained great satisfaction from teaching other young people how to code.
During his short life, Alex shared his strength of compassion for those less fortunate, particularly the homeless. He often would stop, engage a homeless man or woman, give them some money, and spend time conversing with them. On one Thanksgiving, Alex prepared several turkeys and delivered the meals himself to the homeless in Lancaster, PA. Alex had a dream that one day he would teach the homeless to code.
Alex is survived by his mom Julia Witmer Gallagher and his stepfather Donald Patrick Gallagher; his brother Dr. David Thorne Holland, Jr. and his wife Camilla Gomes Xavier Holland; his stepbrother Miles Patrick Gallagher and his wife Sara Mae Gallagher and their daughter Skye Elizabeth Gallagher; his stepbrothers Michael Herr Gallagher and John Edward Gallagher; his beloved dog PJ; as well as his loving cousins and aunts and uncles. Alex was preceded in death by his father, David Thorne Holland Sr., with whom he was very close, and his infant sister, Virginia Provost Holland.
For young people learning about Alex’s passing, please choose the path of seeking help and leaning into professional counseling versus self-medicating when facing the disease of addiction or any mental health challenge.
A memorial service to celebrate Alex’s life will be held Saturday, March 18, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at St. James Episcopal Church, 119 N. Duke Street, Lancaster, PA, with the Reverend David W. Peck presiding and the Reverend Edward O. Miller, Jr. preaching. The family will receive friends prior to the service at 9:15 a.m. Interment will be in St. James Episcopal Church Memorial Garden immediately following the service. A link to the livestreaming of the service can be found at saintjameslancaster.org.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. James Episcopal Church, http://www.saintjameslancaster.org or The Hyde School, https://www.hydeedu.com or a check may be sent to 616 High Street, Bath, ME 94530. Please note that donations are made in memory of Alexander Parks Holland.
To leave an online condolence for the family, please visit the Groffs Funeral Home at thegroffs.com.
LNP Media Group, Inc.
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