John George Holloway

John George Holloway, Jr., 98, died peacefully Sunday, March 22, 2015 at Stamford Care and Rehab Center in Stamford, Texas.
George was born May 27, 1916, in Dallas, Texas; he was the second of ten children born to John George Holloway, Sr. and Adeline DeFerrari Holloway. He graduated from Crozier Tech High School in 1934. During the Great Depression, George found work driving a meat truck, working on a fishing boat in Galveston and assembling batteries for Willard Stores Battery Co. He took drafting courses from 1936-1939 in night school while working for Willard during the day.
In 1940, he enlisted in the Navy. After training as a medical corpsman, he assisted with physicals given servicemen going overseas. After his Navy hitch, North American Aviation hired him as an engineering draftsman from 1942-1945.
George began his 33 year career with Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. as an exchange engineer in 1946. He designed the service grid system for North Dallas (which included EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation). He created the engineering plan used for the conversion of all Bell service systems in Ft. Worth, Texas, to underground conduit.
When his first wife died in 1957, George was a single parent of their sons, ages ten and seven. In 1962 he married Helen Hill. After George’s retirement in 1979, they moved to Clarksville, Texas, to enjoy rural living after spending decades in Dallas. In 1996 they settled in Stamford and joined the Orient Street Church of Christ in 1997.
George had a lifelong interest in golf and received trophies in regional and district SW Bell tournaments. He enjoyed reciting classic poems he had memorized as a youth; and, he could say the alphabet backward faster than most people say it forward.
He is survived by son, James Frederick Holloway of Stamford; brother, Fred Holloway and wife Bettye of Commerce, Texas; and 18 nieces and nephews. Preceding George in death were first wife and mother of their two sons, Dorothy Brown Holloway; second wife of 48 years, Helen Hill Holloway; and George’s elder son, George Roger Holloway.
Visitation will be 6:00-7:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at Tankersley Funeral Home, 807 S. Columbia St., Stamford, Texas. A celebration of his life will take place Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Tankersley Funeral Home with Fred Selby officiating. Graveside services will following in Spring Creek Cemetery under the direction of Tankersley Funeral Home.