Thomas Hollis Obituary

Thomas David Hollis was born to Jim and Neva Hollis on July 10, 1932 in Delaplaine, Arkansas. Jim and Neva had a blended family of 5 children as well as 5 children together. Dave had 5 brothers and 4 sisters. The family moved to Paragould, Arkansas in the mid-1940s where Dave graduated from Oak Grove schools. 

In the early 1950s, as the Korean War began, Dave joined the Air Force. He served with distinction in Korea as a Military Police Soldier. He volunteered for air support mission by flying in slow PBY aircrafts, dropping flares at night over raging battles against Chinese Communist forces.

After the war, Dave returned to Paragould and married his first wife with whom he had 5 children.

He met and married his second wife Margaret in 1968. Like many blended families, they had 3 children: Jerry, Linda, and Tommy. They also continued a loving relationship with some of his children from his first marriage.

Dave retired from Johnson and Johnson/ Chicopee in NLR in 1994. 

Dave was known for telling stories of his life to the adults. He would pick on the children by using words they were too young to understand to get them irritated, only to then play his favorite kid game with them “Kabum- Kabum”. Anyone that saw Dave with children knows that song. Dave was an avid hunter. He loved camping, gardening, woodworking, and coin collecting. Later in life he enjoyed visiting flea markets and yard sales. Dave truly never met a stranger. He would give anyone the shirt off his back and many times, he literally tried. But most of all, his life with Margaret, the kids, and grandkids was the world he loved most. Those that shared in that love and family life will always hold dear their example of what a family should be.

We lost Margaret in May of 2008. Dave lived with his daughter, Linda, from 2010 until 2021. He lived at a group home in Conway Arkansas for a year and then moved to an assisted living home in Southaven, Mississippi where he was cared for by family until he passed away to his eternal life on Sunday, December 15, 2024. He was 92 years young.

Dave was preceded in death by his parents: Jim and Neva Hollis; loving wife, Margaret Hollis; brothers: J.D., Bob, Bill and Alfred Hollis, and J.L Rhoades; sisters: Frances (Housley), Polly Rhoades (Shaw), and Eva McClelland; and daughter, Linda Ballard.

He was survived by his sister, Neva with WT Shewmaker; children: Curtis with Robin, Richard, and Tommy with Julie Hollis and Jerry with Anne Boswell; grandchildren: Pam with Erik Johnson, Debbie with Andy Pruett, and Kenneth Ballard; along with many other family members such as great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Dave at The Reynolds Park Building, 3307 Reynolds Park Rd, Paragould, Arkansas. This will be an informal service with Pot Luck style food and fellowship. Please join us to celebrate Dave between the hours of 11am and 3pm on Monday, December 30, 2024.

Services entrusted to Smith-Benton Funeral Home.  Online guestbook:  www.SmithFamilyCares.com.