Obituary of Clarence Edward Hollis, Houston, Alabama http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/houston/obits/cehollistxt ======================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed and copyrighted by: Judith A. Fowler ==================================================================== March 1999 The Dothan Eagle, Thursday, July 3, 1997 Clarence Edward Hollis, 83, of 22 Ballestone Court, died Wednesday, July 2, 1997, at his residence. Funeral services will be held today, July 3, at Byrd Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Bill Reeves and Rev. Harvey Luke officiating. Burial will follow in Pilgrim Rest (West) Cemetery with Byrd Funeral Home directing. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Wiregrass Hospice, P. O. Box 2127, Dothan, AL 36302. Mr. Hollis was born October 30, 1913, in the Jellico Community and lived in Houston County all his life. His father opened Brannon Stand Mercantile Company in 1927, which Mr. Hollis grew up in and operated until its closing in 1965. During the Depression years of the1930s, Hollis Store at Brannon Stand was perhaps the closest thing to a "civic center" in Houston County. Boxing matches were staged there one night a week in an open air ring beside the store. Admission was free and the gladiators fought for the few coins that could be raised by "passing the hat." There was no television and not many people even had a radio to keep them home so the Brannon Stand boxing matches drew big crowds. Mr. Hollis had other business interests and hobbies. In the early 1950s, he and his father owned farming interests in the Malvern Community of Geneva County and in Dale County. Together they ran what was called the biggest "father-son" hog operation in the Wiregrass area and raised Hampshire hogs by the hundreds. Later, they diversified their business to include a purebred Black Angus herd whose offspring helped to improve the quality of beef cattle in the Tri-States area. Mr. Hollis also bred and raised Tennessee Walker Horses. For 25 years, he and a close friend, Jack McBreyer, attended the Shelbyville, Tennessee, horse show and sale which was considered the Super Bowl for Tennessee Walkers. He was also a breeder and seller of game chickens, a hobby that widened his circle of friends and acquaintances. For a number of years, Mr. Hollis also earned recognition as a pecan grower. He leased the orchard at Brannon Stand until the owners sold it to make way for a housing development, Whitfield Estates. A unique individual, Mr. Hollis' knowledge to the area and its people was almost encyclopedic. He was a spellbinder at storytelling and most of his narratives were about people he knew and places he had been. As a boy, he attended prep school at Bob Jones College when it was located at Lynn Haven, Florida. He was a former member of the Alabama Cattlemen's Association and other grower-producer organizations. Mr. Hollis was a graduate of Rehobeth High School and was a member of Winslette Chapel United Methodist Church. Survivors include his wife, Ganey Driggers Hollis, Dothan; a son and daughter-in-law, Stedman and Bonnie Hollis, Montgomery; grandchildren, Patti and Trip Tippeer, Germantown, Tenn., Jeffrey Hollis, Germantown, Tenn., and his fiancee, Sarah Sloan, Oxford, Miss., and several nieces and nephews. Mr. Hollis was predeceased by a son, William Isaac "Ikey" Hollis, who died in 1956, and by his parents, Emmett H. and Dovie May Reynolds Hollis. Serving as active pallbearers will be Sam White, Doug Odom, Billy Kibler, Sr., Billy Kibler, Jr., Frank Frazier, and Kenneth Driggers. (He was also predeceased by a brother, Bruce Howard Hollis, who died in 1918.)