Robert Wilson Holland, Also Known as: "Bob"

Birthdate: June 06, 1884

Birthplace: Indaiatuba, Indaiatuba, São Paulo, Brazil

Death: September 10, 1920 (36)
Osasco, Osasco, São Paulo, Brazil (Acidente de trabalho)

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Bob and his brothers helped their father with small tasks on the farms where his father worked so they learned this trade. Luiza Cantoni, a sister-in-law with whom she never met, said that her husband Paulo said that Bob was very tall, strong and courageous. Cynthia, her mother, taught all her children to write but sent her daughters to study in São Paulo. The children worked to help the father and reinforce the budget. Bob went to school however his teacher said "that Bob knew more than himself, he was very intelligent and that he was not the right person to teach him."

 

In 1905 Bob was a farm manager in Porto Feliz. The owner of the farm, whose name was apparently Almeida Prado, had died leaving a daughter from his first marriage and a young wife. We didn't learn the daughter's name, but the widow's name was Rita Xavier da Silveira. According to family tradition, Rita's father had given it to this elderly gentleman in payment for a gambling debt when she was just 13 years old. They said she was taken away crying, carrying all her dolls. Rita's stepdaughter, interested in Robert, then a 21-year-old, encouraged her visits to the house, however Bob ended up being pleased by the widow, who was nine years older than him.

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Robert granddaughter of José Joaquim da Silveira and Maria Leite da Silveira, and maternal by Ângelo Rodrigues da Silveira and Ana Pedroso de Morais. He belonged to a traditional family from the region of Araçariguama, Itu and Cabreúva whose ancestors can be traced to Fernão Dias Pais Leme, the "Hunter of Esmeraldas", and to João Ramalho and to India Bartira. Rita was baptized in Itu on July 15, 1875, having as godfathers João Rodrigues da Rocha and his wife Rita Maria do Espírito Santo, from Itu. After her marriage, her stepdaughter never spoke to Ritinha again, as she was called by the family. Apparently Rita received nothing from her husband's inheritance. After being married, they remained at least until 1908 in Porto Feliz, where their two oldest children, Luiz and Eduardo, were born. We don't know where they lived when the two youngest children, Carlos and João Batista, were born. In 1920 they moved to Osasco where Robert had found a job in a refrigerator. He was head of the department where the meat was canned. The story passed on by the family reports that a factory employee was fired and, seeking revenge, sabotaged one of the machines that pressurized the meat that would be canned so that too much steam was escaping. When they went to fix the machine, it exploded and one of the pieces flew, hitting Bob nearby, behind his desk, which killed him almost immediately.

 

It was September 10, 1920. Bob was 36 years old.got married in Porto Feliz to Rita Xavier da Silveira on October 31, 1905. Rita was born on June 26, 1875, in Itu, daughter of Joaquim Xavier da Silveira and Isabel da Silveira Leite, paternal That same day, Eduardo and Lico, who was the eldest son's nickname, had gone to enroll at Mackenzie, the American school. They had just arrived home and were looking at the books they had bought, while Ritinha told her children how the father would be happy with the news. At that moment, they came to warn about his death. Widowed for the second time, Ritinha was in a very complicated situation. It was with great relief that he accepted the invitation of his in-laws to come and live with them in Itirapina. There also lived his brother-in-law Tom, and some of the younger sisters-in-law. Ritinha, despite being very grateful, did not feel very comfortable because besides having little intimacy with her in-laws, her system was more rigid than in the house where she grew up or in her own. About a year after his move, his father-in-law died. Cynthia followed him nine months later. Ritinha, with nowhere to live, sent her two youngest children to live with her maternal grandparents for a while and moved to Piracicaba, where she had relatives. As soon as he got the new house, he went to get his youngest children. In Piracicaba, he worked hard to raise the boys. After all the children were married, the last two João and Carlos, with only two days difference, in June 1938, Ritinha moved in with Lico, already married but still without children.

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According to Helena, her daughter-in-law, Ritinha was a very jealous mother, especially with Lico. All the time he protected and excused Lico from any disagreement he had with his wife. I kept saying that men need to go out alone to have fun. At that time they lived on the store where Luiz and Helena worked. As there was little fun there, she asked Helena to take her to the cinema but as soon as the film started, Ritinha slept or said she wanted to go home. The granddaughters said that their grandmother was very grumpy. Ritinha had a combination with Helena, which was as follows: when Ritinha went to visit her children, Helena should call on a date previously agreed, always too close in the understanding of her daughter-in-law, and say that Lico needed his mother. So Rita always had an excuse to return home without offending the other children. According to Helena, she did not like to be away from Luiz for a long time. The last two years of Ritinha's life were complicated because according to what was said at the time “it was getting very sclerotic”. For example, I asked Douglas, then engaged to his granddaughter Evany, if they had already tied up and cared for his horse. It was 1960. The last months of life spent in bed. She died on February 1, 1961 and is buried in the Cemitério da Saudade in Piracicaba, with her children Luiz and João, and their wives, in addition to her granddaughter Heloisa. Bob is buried at Consolação Cemetery with Eduardo and Edhmyr. They had nine grandchildren and twenty two great-grandchildren. By 2014 nineteen great-great-grandchildren were born.

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Rita Xavier da Silveira

Birthdate:  June 26, 1875

Birthplace:  Itu, Itu, São Paulo, Brazil

Death  February 01, 1961 

Piracicaba, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil

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Ritinha married in Itu, on May 23, 1891, at António Tavares' house, with Elias Leopoldino de Almeida Prado, son of Elias de Almeida Prado and Anna da Silveira Arruda, widower of Rita do Amaral. Elias' grandfather was Lieutenant Colonel Elias de Almeida Prado, born in 1798 in Itu, an influential resident of Piracicaba where he died in 1854. There is an avenue named after him in Piracicaba.

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Elias Leopoldino, the time of his marriage to Ritinha, was a widower of Rita do Amaral de Campos, with whom he had at least one daughter, older than Ritinha. He lived in Capivari. Two of her husband's relatives were witnesses to her marriage, Antonio de Almeida Prado, from São Paulo and José de Vasconcelos de Almeida Prado, from Itu. The latter, cousin-brother of Elias Leopoldino's father and half-brother of Barão de Itaim, was the owner of great fortune, was one of the two children who inherited in 1867 in Itu the 'Casa à Rua Barão de Itaim', where he made and was headquarters of the 1873 Republican Convention, a movement that eventually resulted in the Proclamation of the Republic. It is a house with a symmetrical structure, facades with cast iron balconies, tile decoration and a plateau, which in 1923 underwent modifications to adapt the museum, from the original seven doors to the sixth street were replaced by windows, but the two remaining intact rooms where the convention was held. It was listed by the historical heritage in 1967.

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The Almeida Prado family's origins date back to Henrique da Cunha, a friend of the Portuguese admiral Martim Affonso de Sousa, who with him passed to S. Vicente in 1531 with his wife Filippa Gago. He belonged to the illustrious house of the Cunhas, who proceed by the straight male line of el-rei Dom Fruella II, king of León, Asturias and Galicia in the year 923. His wife Fillippa Gago was a close relative of the 1st governor-chief governor and loco-lieutenant of the grantee of the captaincy of S. Vicente, Antonio de Oliveira, noble gentleman of the home of el-rei Dom João III. They are descendants in the line of his son Henrique da Cunha Gago, the old man, born near Santos in 1560.

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Like many families in the fourteenth century, the Silveira Leite also descended from the Cunha Gago, but while the Almeida Prado are descendants of Captain Henrique da Cunha Gago, the young man, the Silveira Leite are descendants of his brother João Gago da Cunha. Both were sons of Henrique da Cunha Gago, the old man.

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Well, going back to our nebulous history, we don't know where Elias and Ritinha lived, apparently in Capivari, nor how many were Elias' children, except for the stepdaughter that Ritinha always mentioned with resentment. We do not know if Ritinha got pregnant with her first husband since she was married to him for several years, but from that marriage no child survived. We imagine that while Elias was alive, they lived in Itu, as it was common to publish in the newspapers of that city the list of taxes owed by the farmers there. Elias appears several times in the newspapers of the time, both as a taxpayer and as being summoned to serve in the jury court and in at least one article that reports a visit he made to Cesário Galvão and his brother, in Dois Córregos, published in 5 August 1894. It is also quoted in the obituary of Angela, Rita's sister in September 1902.

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Apparently, after the death of her husband, Ritinha and her stepdaughter moved to an Elias farm, possibly in Porto Feliz. In any case, it was on this farm that Ritinha met her second husband, Robert Wilson Holland, at the time a farm manager. According to family tradition, Rita's stepdaughter, interested in Robert, then twenty-one years old, encouraged her visits to the house, however Bob ended up being pleased by the widow, who was nine years older than him. Note that his stepdaughter was even older.

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After the wedding, her stepdaughter never spoke to Ritinha again. Rita said that she received nothing from her husband's inheritance.

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Rita married Robert Wilson Holland, on October 31, 1905, in Porto Feliz. Robert Wilson Holland was born on June 6, 1884 in Indaiatuba, second son of Leroy Chalmers Holland and Margaret Cynthia Steagall, American immigrants who came to Brazil after the Civil War. He was called Bob by the family.

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Its name was a tribute to maternal uncle Robert Stell Steagall and the family of his maternal grandmother, Wilson. During his childhood Bob lived in several cities: before 1886, his parents moved from Indaiatuba to Santa Bárbara, and they stayed there until at least 1890. From 1894 to 1900 they were in Dois Córregos, having lived in Mineiros during this last period. do Tietê. Around 1902 they lived on a farm near São Manoel. Bob and his brothers helped their father with small tasks on the farms where his father worked so they learned this trade. Luiza Cantoni, sister-in-law that Bob never met, said that Paulo, her husband, said that his brother was very tall, strong and courageous. Cynthia taught all her sons to write, but only sent her daughters to study in São Paulo. The children worked to help the father and reinforce the budget.

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After being married, Rita and Bob stayed at least until 1908 in Porto Feliz, where their two oldest children, Luiz and Eduardo, were born. We don't know where they lived when the two youngest children, Carlos and João Batista, were born. In 1920, they moved to Osasco where Robert had found a job in a refrigerator. He was head of the department where the meat was canned. The story passed on by the family reports that a factory worker was fired and, in search of revenge, sabotaged one of the machines that pressurized the meat that would be canned so that too much steam was escaping. When they went to fix the machine, it exploded and one of the pieces flew, hitting Bob nearby, behind his desk, which killed him almost immediately. It was September 10, 1920. Bob was 36 years old.

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On the same day, Eduardo and Lico, who was the eldest son's nickname, had gone to enroll at Mackenzie, the American school. They had just arrived home and were looking at the books they had bought, while Ritinha told her children how the father would be happy with the news. At that moment, they came to warn about his death.

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Widowed for the second time, Ritinha was in a very complicated situation. It was with great relief that he accepted the invitation of his in-laws to come and live with them in Itirapina. There also lived his brother-in-law Tom, and some of the
younger sisters-in-law. Ritinha, despite being very grateful, did not feel very comfortable because in addition to having little intimacy with her in-laws, her system was more rigid than in the house where she grew up or in her own. About a year after his move, his father-in-law died. Cynthia followed him nine months later.

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With nowhere to live, Ritinha sent her two youngest children to her maternal grandparents and moved to Piracicaba, where she had relatives. Possibly because they were living in Piracicaba Adolfo and Alzira Rodrigues Arruda, parents of Agrício Rodrigues de Arruda, who was little older than Lico. As soon as he got the new house, he went to get his youngest children. In Piracicaba, he worked hard to raise the boys, for some years, until his (his) death, he was ruler of the house of "count" Lara, Rodolpho de Lara Campos, today in the country club of Piracicaba. In December 2014, Maria Antonieta (Tuna) Xavier da Silveira, Flamínio's daughter, presented her cousin Jair de Oliveira with a wooden image of Santo Antônio, about 25cm high, possibly with a Portuguese bill; Tuna received her as a gift at his birth, on April 29, 1919, of Count Antônio Lara, later his godfather of baptism. The Count was a great friend of Flamínio and that is probably why Hiring Ritinha as his ruler and trusted person!

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After all the children were married, the last two, João and Carlos, only two days apart, in June 1938, Ritinha moved in with Lico, who was already married, but still without children.

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According to Helena, her daughter-in-law, Ritinha was a very jealous mother, especially with Lico. All the time he protected and excused Lico from any disagreement he had with his wife. I kept saying that men need to go out alone to have fun. At that time they lived on the store where Luiz and Helena worked. As there was little entertainment there, she asked Helena to take her to the cinema, but as soon as the film started, Ritinha slept or said she wanted to go home. The granddaughters said that their grandmother was very grumpy.

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Ritinha had a combination with Helena, which was as follows: when Ritinha went to visit her children, Helena should call on a date previously agreed, always too close in the understanding of her daughter-in-law, and say that Lico was in need of his mother. So Rita always had an excuse to return home without offending the other children. According to Helena, she did not like to be away from Luiz for a long time.

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The last two years of Ritinha's life were complicated, because according to what was said at the time, "it was getting very sclerotic". For example, I asked Douglas, then engaged to his granddaughter Evany, if they had already tied up and cared for his horse. She spent the last months of her life in bed. She died on February 1, 1961 and is buried in the Cemitério da Saudade in Piracicaba, with her children Luiz and João, and her daughters-in-law, in addition to her granddaughter Heloisa. Bob is buried in the Protestant Cemetery of Consolação with Eduardo and Edhmyr. Bob and Rita had nine grandchildren, twenty-one great-grandchildren and, to date, nineteen great-great-grandchildren.

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Robert and Rita had four sons:

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1.  Luiz Lee Holland

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Her father had been a farmer, first in Limeira, where he married Georgina and later in Santa Maria da Serra. Around 1914 João, as Giovanni was known, had sold his farm and bought several houses in Piracicaba, where he had a comfortable life. Of the sons of João and Georgina, Antônio, called Tota by the family, had graduated in medicine in Rio de Janeiro and was a well-known doctor in Piracicaba, where he was a councilor for a short period.

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Luiz and Helena were married on January 5, 1932. Shortly after their marriage, the owner of Casa Silveira, who was single, being old and wishing to retire, proposed to Luiz, whom he liked as a son, if he wished to stay with his store in exchange for a monthly salary to be paid until his death. (Was this actually Casa Tressê by Manuel A. Silveira? Traditional piracicabana store, Casa Tressê was located at 128 Governador Pedro de Toledo street. In the almanac published by Mário Neme in 1936, an advertisement by Casa Tressê highlighted his specialty in "footwear for men, women and children; sneakers, sandals, slippers, gaiters and more articles belonging to the branch; thin hats and bonets; shirts, socks and ties; parasols; handbags and travel bags"). with the offer. To save money, they decided to move to the top floor of the store, so they would only pay one rent instead of two. For ten years Luiz and Helena worked at the store. The beginning was difficult because it didn't take long for Helena to discover that Luiz was quite a “womanizer”. On top of that, his mother-in-law was always covering him up. Helena always said that Luiz was full of stratagems: Once he pretended to be very tired he spent months in a hotel in Águas de São Pedro while she was at the store working. He always had a ready excuse.

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As both had great business acumen. Gradually they were saving some money. A few years later, the former owner of Casa Silveira had died and no longer had to pay his salary. At that time, a property was vacant around the corner of the street where the store was located. This property communicated from the back with Casa Silveira and they had the idea of ​​opening another store, Casa Paratodos, which would sell the same type of items but at lower prices. They then agreed with the current manager of Casa Silveira, Mr. Tufik, that he would act as the owner of the new store. With this scheme in place, all Casa Silveira prices increased and kept the old prices at Casa Paratodos. When a customer passed by and showed interest in an article, Helena would run and tell Tufik that the customer had liked it so that when he turned the corner, if he hadn’t shopped at the first store, he wouldn’t miss the second offer, after all, Tufik always seemed to know the weakness of each customer.

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Around 1930, a playboy known as Pedro-Rico died in Piracicaba. He left a large quantity of goods that would go to auction promoted by the heirs. Among these properties were some very well located buildings, on the main part of the street where the trade took place. Luiz and Helena had some money saved and thought it was a good opportunity to buy one of them. With the modest life they led, and since no one knew they owned Casa Paratodos, they had no desire to participate in the auction so Luiz went to ask his father-in-law to bid for them. Because they are very discreet, João was surprised that his son-in-law had the money to buy any property but agreed. I then wanted to know which building they were interested in. Luiz said that they wanted to buy one located on the main street, towards the square. It was a two-story building, neat and elaborate construction with several stores. It was the best of all Pedro-Rico's buildings. Joao, very surprised, doubted that they would be able to buy the property so he soon asked how much he should offer. Luiz replied: “It doesn't matter, buy it. We want the building. ” And so it was. Ten years had passed since Helena and Luiz were married. Helena, who was in normal school and had stopped studying to get married, had gone back to school and completed her studies.

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With the purchase of the building and the relative security they had attained, they decided it was time for Helena to stop working at the store and start having children. They bought a small house, four blocks from the store and moved there with Ritinha. With the rest of the money they had saved, Luiz decided to build real estate to see if he could earn some extra money.

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In 1942, his first daughter, Heloisa, was born, and the following year Evany. Luiz was a very intelligent man and the construction business went very well. Luiz then decided to sell the stores and buy a pottery. Then he also set up a carpentry shop, so that he could manufacture much of what he needed in the works himself and, moreover, sell the surplus. The business prospered. In the early 1950s, a Hungarian architect named Andras Kereks moved to Piracicaba. At this time all buildings in the city were in a very traditional style. Luiz saw a great opportunity to modernize piracicabana architecture and hired Kereks to design modern houses. The houses that Kereks designed spread across the city. Many are still standing. Most of the important people of Piracicaba wanted to have one of these houses.

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As we already said, Luiz was quite a womanizer. Much of his adventures were talked about by Piracicabanos because he liked to have fun and was not very discreet. Where had the old discretion gone? He had eye-catching cars and was seen occasionally having fun in the city and nearby towns. Luiz ended up becoming a well-known figure in the city. He was president of the Rotary Club, Clube Coronel Barbosa, XV de Piracicaba, Clube Cristovâo Colombo, and Clube de Chess de Piracicaba. Luiz was a great chess player and was champion of the Open Games of the Interior in 1964, where he won a beautiful trophy, now held by his daughter Ana Maria. With all this projection Lico ran for mayor of Piracicaba, however, his opponent Ripolli, was willing to play hard. Luiz's extramarital activities were not favoring him, so he decided to withdraw his candidacy.

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In 1949, Helena went to the market to shop and, on her return, she rented a cart to bring the fruits and vegetables, as they were about 8 blocks away and she could not bring everything alone. He was talking to the wagoner, his acquaintance when he asked around: “So, D. Helena, when is the baby for?” and she was very surprised: “What? What a baby! Are you crazy? I am already forty-two years old and my two daughters are already big. ” She was mistaken: Ana Maria was born in 1950.

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The construction business was going well and Luiz was hired to carry out major works, such as channeling the existing stream and opening Avenida Armando Sales in Piracicaba. Around 1950 Luiz decided to build apartment buildings, which were the latest “fashion”. The first to be built took the name Rita Holland, in honor of D. Ritinha, Luiz's mother. At this time it also diversified its investments and bought Cine Colonial. Then their in-laws died and Luiz and Helena inherited three houses and part of a hotel in the city center.

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As part of the advertisement for the new style of architecture, Luiz decided to build a bigger and more attractive house, even though his family had grown. He bought land on a newly opened avenue, in the highest part of the city, and in 1954 construction began. The house took three years to complete. In 57 they moved there. It was a very light-looking house, with lots of glass and a large ramp at the front, surrounded by gardens, and a low, hollow wall. The garden project was commissioned by Germano Zimber, in São Paulo. The view from the living room and kitchen windows was wonderful. You could see the entire city and even the farm lights in the surrounding fields.

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Her grandson Dalton says: “When I was a child, I loved going to spend the holidays at my grandparents' house in Piracicaba. It was very different from ours in São Paulo, with a lot of gardens around it, an aerodynamic ramp at the entrance, leading to the upper floor, an aquarium built together with a sofa, a bookcase and spaces full of plants, with two iron pillars that held the flying backrest of the sofa and crossed the aquarium in the middle. An upstairs closet that was a tunnel that dumped clothes straight into the laundry room below, a spiral staircase built entirely over a lake, a fireplace that divided two rooms, great to cross inside, etc., finally nothing like we used to usually see . But best of all, there were the five bedrooms in the downstairs lounge; one was called an office and the other a cellar, and the other three had no names, we called the large, small and gardener's maid's room, but employees rarely slept there. They were actually used to dump all kinds of junk.

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Grandma Helena didn't throw anything away. Everything went down there ... there were only 100 burned lamps (we liked to tease and ask if she was stocking up for the day to invent the lamp repair). As you can imagine there was everything there, a distaff, a film projector made of bakelite and that worked by turning a crank (without lamp or films, of course), a Phillips bicycle of those very light with a dusted seat and flat tires. Several chests with old documents from Vô Lico, old chairs and armchairs, a thousand books and magazines of all kinds, in short, the stuff was so much that I can't even remember. A child's paradise. As only my grandparents lived in the house, in the rooms we slept in and in the library, all the drawers and cabinets were occupied by boxes full of things, a guitar, old wigs, spoiled and stinky perfumes, the various glasses of my great-grandmother who had already died about ten years ago, scores, etc. Well, a great discovery I made one day was that in one of the deep drawers of the library there were only photographs and old papers. I found a photo album that had belonged to my great grandmother, already half eaten by bedbugs but with pictures in good condition, but what impressed me most was the cover of a little book where some notes about Franklin and Priscilla were written. What a find, that must have been almost 100 years old ... anyway, all the grandchildren loved to spend their holidays there. ”

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Gradually the construction business was becoming less profitable. Getúlio Vargas had greatly complicated accounting with his labor laws, which reduced a large part of the profits from pottery and carpentry. Then came inflation. When Luiz started the construction of the Rita Holland building, he intended to keep a large part of the apartments, but, as sales had done without counting the growing inflation, especially during the government of Jânio Quadros, he ended up having to sell many apartments to honor the delivery than it had sold before.

 

Luiz, always looking for business opportunities, saw the establishment of the automobile industry in Brazil with great interest. There was a small metallurgical company in Piracicaba, Auto-Pira, which produced starters for Bosch. With so much propaganda done by Juscelino, Luiz decided to buy this company. The problem is that I didn't have all the money I needed. He then sought out some acquaintances willing to invest, but mainly one of his brothers-in-law, Luiz Ometto, who had married Helena's sister, Cecília, and had been very successful in growing cane and producing sugar and alcohol. They bought the company.

 

Luiz was a terrible driver. There are countless anecdotes about his “barbering” told by the family. Once back from São Paulo, he ran over a cow. She hit the side of the car and the door handle was pulled off. It produced a huge traffic jam on the road, in which several of Luiz's acquaintances were arrested and commented with him the next day. Once again, seeing that he had left the road in the wrong place, he descended the bridge down the bank causing everyone to be thrown into the car like popcorn.

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He always tried to pass through gaps much smaller than the car so that it was always dented. Once, the tinker asked if he could straighten the friezes on the car because he needed to have an employee working around the clock on Luiz's car repairs. Without friezes it was much faster. Another time he changed a flat tire while the family waited behind the car, forgot that the car was still on the jack and started to cover them all with a shower of boulders. Her daughter Evany had a shard of glass on her scalp that was embedded in one of her strokes and was only removed about fifteen years later. Around 1965 he had a really serious accident. He entered under a cannon loaded with construction iron that was going to Santos. The irons went through the bones of his skull and his knee was severely hit, having to replace the kneecap with a synthetic one. The scar left, though reasonably discreet, left one of his eyebrows straight and tilted upward like that of Dr. Spock from Star Trek. He was in the hospital for a long time until he recovered.

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Meanwhile, construction continued. In 1964 Construtora Holland was hired to finish a very modern building that was under construction in the main square of the city, Comurba. It was a large building whose structure was supported by a line of sloping pillars forming a V on the ground floor. The building was almost finished. Near the start of finishing, they had decided to add four more floors to the construction. On the ground floor there was a cinema, which was already finished and functioning.

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Evany, Luiz and Helena's second daughter, married and lived in São Paulo. Heloisa, Luiz's eldest daughter, worked at the construction company, where she was part of the purchases and also managed the employees. One day, Heloisa, around lunchtime, was standing at the door of the construction company looking at the works of Comurba and thinking: “What kind of electrician, did he show up for work today?” at this moment a great dust cloud rose from the ground and the Comurba hiding the building. There was a horrifying crash, and when the dust settled the building was gone. It had fallen just when the box office was going to open for the next cinema section. More than 100 workers died and four neighboring houses were crushed or badly damaged. Subsequent investigations found problems in the calculation and execution of the building's structure, which in addition was unable to support the extra four floors that had been added. Luiz ended the construction company's activities because it was no longer a very profitable business and a good part of its employees had died. He was going to dedicate himself to Auto-Pira.

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In 1964 President Juscelino Kubitschek paid a visit to the factory. Under Luiz's administration the business prospered. They opened a second factory, for the production of the tools they needed. In 1982, the company had about 450 employees and was the only one in Brazil to produce racks for the flywheel of most vehicles, tractors and trucks in the country. It also produced parts for the American aviation industry.

 

In 1950 Luiz had started an extra-marital relationship with a neighbor girl. This relationship remained hidden. As Luiz traveled extensively to São Paulo, he decided that she should go and live there. Every Tuesday, Luiz “does business” in São Paulo and spent the night there. This arrangement lasted some twenty years.

 

Lico was not a religious person. He was an atheist. It was also a “cuca-fresco”. He never worried too much about things and always thought everything was going to work out. Once, his house was invaded by thieves at night. While Helena called the police, looked at the men through the keyhole, and saw if they could get out of her bedroom door, which communicated with the garage, he just said it was better to leave the thieves there and continue to sleep. He was very intelligent, inventive and had a great culture. It was also very exaggerated in every way. He was convinced, in a very funny way. For example, I thought I was the healthiest person in the world. When someone complained that any indisposition in any part of the body, for example gastritis, he immediately replied: "I don't know if I have a stomach". So he did with everything. When João, his youngest brother died, the first of the four to die, at the funeral the old people kept telling him about his ills and he, at the age of 78, replied: “I don't know if I have an intestine, I don't know if I have it, I don't know if I have that ... ”By the time his brother Eduardo arrived and said:“ Lico, I already know - you are hollow. ” It was the general laugh of whoever was close.

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One of the things his daughters liked most, and then his grandchildren, were the stories that Luiz told at bedtime. He had an enviable imagination. There was no limit to the adventures of Pedrinho, the boy hunter or Pituquinha, who spoke to the animals. The witchcraft stories were also fantastic. Children never got tired of them. The grandchildren loved to spend their holidays and holidays at his home in Piracicaba. Lico didn’t have so much company for his grandchildren other than playing chess or storytelling, most of the time he was away from work, but the house was a big part of the fun.

 

In 1982, Lico began to suffer from Alzheimer's. One of the consequences, early in the illness, while she was still reasonably well, was that she decided to move in with her former lover. After 1982, he was hardly seen by family members. The youngest grandchildren remember little about their grandfather because they were rarely with him. On the other hand, Luiz also did not remember the names of his youngest grandchildren. He had more contact with only the four oldest grandchildren.

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Helena continued to live in their house, however Ana Maria and Marco, her husband, decided to move there with their children because it would be completely absurd to leave Helena alone in such a big house. Soon after, Dalton, the oldest grandson came to spend a year with them too. He had graduated. He came from São Paulo to work at his grandfather's factory. He didn't like it much and stayed only a year. After he left, it was Fábio's turn to come to work at the factory. Fabio and his wife lived with their grandmother for some time too since Ana had bought an apartment and moved out. As the house ended up getting too big and Helena did not want to impose the need for someone to live with her, who after all was perfectly healthy, bought an apartment and moved there.

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On November 6, 1994 Luiz passed away, a few days before he was 88 years old. He spent the last two years in bed. After his death, he was honored by the Clube Cristovão Colombo that gave his name to the pools and also by the city of Piracicaba, where there is a street named after him.

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Around 1998 Helena, then 90, had pneumonia. The disease left behind a depression that took more than a year to pass. Her daughters thought it best to sell the apartment and take their mother to live with them. Helena spent four months with each daughter. She was a very quiet old lady who just wanted to eat and play cards. All his life he had been a great guess, but in old age he lost that characteristic a little. During lunch I already wanted to know what I was going to have for dinner and at dinner what was the next day's lunch schedule. I was always helping with small tasks that I could do sitting down. I didn't like watching TV very much but I loved to talk.

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In early June 2002 Helena was in São Paulo, at Heloisa's house. He passed the kitchen and started to nibble on what was being prepared for lunch. Heloisa told her to wait, so that she would end everything, and that she would go for a walk outside. Helena went out into the yard and suffered a stroke. She was hospitalized. It was very strong but the spill was too big. He died on June 18, 2002, just before he turned 94. She was buried beside her husband in Piracicaba.

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Lico and Helena had three daughters, nine grandchildren and, until 2012, ten great-grandchildren.

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In This Photo:

Ernestina Amelia Afonso Pires, Helena Cera, Private, Douglas Pires Baptista, Edhmyr Siqueira, Private, Private, Carmela d'Aquino, Private

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Luiz and Helena had three daughters.  Two are not listed due to privacy considerations

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2.  Eduardo Holland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3.  Carlos Holland

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4.  João Batista Holland

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João Batista Holland was born on June 24, 1911,

in  Corumbataí,  near  Porto Feliz, and married

Carmela  d'Aquino  on  June  9,  1938,  born  on

January  6,  1918  in  São  Carlos.  João  worked

briefly  at  Citybank  and  then,  for  most  of his

life,  at the  company  Singer,  having  lived,  for

some years, in Goiás and also in Campinas, SP.

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