Exclusive Brethren Suicide - Graeme Warren Holt

Ron and Olga Holt started life in Sydney before moving to Wagga Wagga. They had a family of 5 sons and a daughter. In 1980, Ron and Olga were excommunicated by the Exclusive Brethren. This process ripped their family apart when Brian, Peter and Ruth remained with the Exclusive Brethren.

The sadness of leaving the Exclusive Brethren never left Ron and Olga. To be forced to sever contact with two sons, a daughter and their families was a fearful price to pay. The Exclusive Brethren doctrine of Separation is a cruel taskmaster with much blood on its hands.

Over the years following the 1980 family division, two of the three sons who left with them, David and Robert, settled in Sydney. The third son however, Graeme Warren, became something of a world traveller. He also travelled under the name 'Graeme Hansen'.

With their sons now grown men and no longer living under their roof, Ron and Olga made the decision to return to their roots. In 1991, they initiated contact with the Exclusive Brethren in Wagga Wagga with a view to seeking restoration. At that time, Dick Pridham and his son John constituted the Wagga Wagga Exclusive Brethren leadership. Dick Pridham was the brother-in-law to John and W. Bruce Hales, respectively father and uncle to the current leader, Bruce D Hales. Even at that time, he was a man with 'connections'.

Under the worldwide leadership of Neche pig farmer, James Symington, directives and rules were as rigid as at any time and Ron and Olga would have had the situation laid out very clearly. Separation demanded no contact with those not in fellowship and this meant they would have to now sever contact with the three sons who had left the fellowship with them ten years earlier.