Willie Holladay

September 1, 1943 - June 13, 2019

Graveside services with military honors for Willie Holladay, 75, Rolla, Kan., formerly of Lawrence, will be at 10:00 am Saturday at Clinton Cemetery, Lawrence, KS with the Rev. Debbie Garber officiating. Services are under the direction of Rumsey Yost Funeral Home in Lawrence. Willie died Thursday, June 13, 2019, at his home in Rolla. He was born September 1, 1943, in Lawrence, the son of Elmer Eugene and Mary Ruth Dressler Holladay. He attended Lawrence schools, and later joined the United States Army during the Vietnam War as a door gunner for the 162nd Assault Helicopter Company, and earned the Vietnam Service and Campaign medals and the National Defense Service medal. He worked for the University of Kansas for many years in various capacities, retiring in 2008 as a brick mason. He was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 852, Lawrence. In his spare time, he enjoyed golf and watching westerns. He married Dolores Ann ‘Dee’ Warmker on June 17, 1991, in Nashville, Tenn. She preceded him in death in 2018. He was also preceded in death by four sisters, Delores Guy, Ella Souders, Bertha Daniels, and Eugenia Mullens. Survivors include five children, Rusty Holladay, Lawrence, Paul Holladay, Lawrence, Stacy R. Smith and wife Michelle, Rolla, Kan., Darran Smith and wife Nicole, White House, Tenn., and Sherri Gunther, Manhattan; two brothers, Calvin Holladay, Tonganoxie, and Ralph Holladay and wife Sherri, Lawrence; three sisters, Betty Holladay, Burlingame, Kan., Freda Schmidt, Baldwin City, and Clara Ann Anderson, Kansas City, Kan.; eleven grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. The family will receive friends from 7-8 pm Friday at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home. Memorial contributions are suggested to Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 852, Lawrence, in care of the funeral home, 601 Indiana St., Lawrence, KS, 66044.