Harold Dowling Hollister

James & Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel 4278 Lafayette Street Marianna, Fl 32446 850.482.2332 850.526.4143 FAX www.jamesandsikesfuneralhomes.com Harold Dowling Hollister of Grand Ridge, Florida, passed away Friday, January 23, 2009. He was 91 years of age, born June 6, 1917, at Cypress, Florida, to William and "Mamie" Hollister. He was delivered at home by Dr. Dowling and was named after the doctor. Survivors include his wife, Verna Mae (Neel) Hollister of Grand Ridge, Florida; a son Harold E. Hollister and special friend Lola Whitehead of Grand Ridge; a daughter Nora H. Beauchamp and husband Harold of Mt. Pleasant, Florida; a brother Herbert Hollister of Marianna; sisters Elma Hollister, Janie Rowell of Grand Ridge, Sadie Stapleton of Marianna, five grandchildren and five great grandchildren. He was predeceased by a brother, William Newton Hollister, and sisters, Sally Grantham, Betty Klimuszko, and a daughter Helen "Holly" Roberts. Mr. Hollister, as a young man during the Depression, joined the Civilian Conservation Corp and worked on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Tennessee and Carolina area, Cade's Cove, and national parks in the state of Washington. He also served in the Army Air Corps stationed at Marianna Army Air Field. Employed at Graham Air Base, Marianna, Florida, as an airplane mechanic, he farmed part-time and made many lifelong friends of employees from Graham. Farming was his passion, raising ground crops, cotton, peanuts, soybeans, and animals, cows and swine, on his homestead and farm on Reddoch Road, Grand Ridge. He belonged to the Jackson County Farm Bureau for numerous years, serving as president for several years, Jackson County Peanut Association, Jackson County Conservation Club, serving as president for two years. A civic minded person, he belonged to the Jackson County Rural Development Agency and was instrumental in developing the Cypress Community Park in Cypress, Florida; former Commander of the Grand Ridge American Legion Post; member of the East Jackson County Lions club of Sneads, Florida. He was a lifelong member of the Cypress United Methodist Church. Services will be Monday, January 26, at 2 p.m. at James & Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel. Interment will follow in Carpenter Cemetery in Grand Ridge with full military rites given by Sneads American Legion Post 241. The family will receive friends one hour prior to funeral time at the funeral home. www.jamesandsikesfuneralhomes.com