Near the end of October, Hogansville native Holland Ware passed away at age 82. If you search Ware’s name on Google, you’ll see two things very quickly. You’ll see that he was one of the top 25 landowners in the entire United States and one of the top 100 in the world. According to The Land Report’s last landowner report, Ware owned 534,900 acres of land in the United States.

But in those Google results, you’ll also see something else. Although wealthy beyond what most of us can imagine, Ware was a philanthropist, who was frequently giving to causes he felt strongly about.

He cared deeply for animals and proved it by helping fund the construction of the LaGrange Animal Shelter and by being a large contributor to Puppy Pipeline, which saved the lives of countless animals. Puppy Pipeline takes animals from the south, where there is less demand for adoption and moves to northern states where the demand is high.

Ware was also passionate about cancer research and again proved it with his wallet. He and Faye Ware funded an 18-bed Advanced Care Unit that opened in December at Piedmont Hospital, and that’s just one of the many gifts he gave to cancer research.  

Piedmont Newnan Hospital CEO Mike Robertson said the advanced care unit has allowed the hospital to serve critically ill patients closer to home. He said that through another donation from Faye and Holland, more than 6,000 women have already been screened through the hospital’s telegenetics program. 

“Holland strove to improve the quality of life for both humans and animals. He actively supported research and action groups focused on the prevention of animal cruelty, the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases, and providing support for the less fortunate. Holland, through his passion and generosity, made our world better,” Robertson said. “Piedmont Newnan and the local community owe a great debt to Holland Ware and mourn his passing.”

Of course, it all started in Hogansville for Ware. He was a graduate of the Hogansville High School class of 1955, and his name is on a lot of land in Troup County.

He was understandably a private person, but his generosity showed his caring heart. Many with wealth choose to keep it all for themselves, but that cannot be said of Holland Ware.