Bishop Holliman

Funeral services for Homer Bishop Holliman, age 98, will be at 2 p.m. on Tuesday June 12 at Cookeville First United Methodist Church. Interment will follow at Crest Lawn Cemetery. Dr. Martin Thielen will officiate. The family will receive friends Monday from 5 - 7 p.m. at the Cookeville Chapel of Hooper Huddleston and Horner and again Tuesday from 1 p.m. until time of services at the church. Mr. Holliman passed away June 9, 2018, after a short illness in Cookeville, Tennessee. Bishop Holliman was born in Irondale, Alabama, December 17, 1919, to Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman. He was preceded in death by his three wives, Geraldine Stansbery Holliman Feick, mother of his three children; Anne McLaughlin Holliman and Ellen Parks Cox Holliman. Also, he was preceded in death by his brothers and sisters, Melton, Vena, Euhal, Loudelle, Virginia and Ralph. He was a graduate of Shades Cahaba High School, Birmingham-Southern College, B.A., and the University of Alabama, M.Ed. He served from 1941-1945 in the U.S. Navy on destroyers in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean as a radioman listening for Nazi U-Boats. He was at the 1943 Invasion of Sicily and escorted transports in the English Channel after the D-Day Invasion. After the war, he taught school for six years in Homewood, Alabama. His career with the Social Security Administration began in 1952 in Birmingham, Alabama. He worked in Johnson City, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; Florence, South Carolina; Gadsden, Alabama and Cookeville, Tennessee where he served as manager of the SSA District office from 1964 to 1983. He received two commissioners' awards for Outstanding Service from Elliott Richardson, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare and from Robert Ball, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. In 2015 he was a member of a World War II Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. Mr. Holliman was a lifelong member of the United Methodist Church and was active in church and civic affairs in Cookeville including president of Rotary Club, the United Way, the Red Cross, and the Regional Library Board and was a longtime member of the Friendship Sunday School Class of FUMC. He was a Paul Harris Fellow of the Cookeville Rotary Club. He helped in preservation of the railroad depot and its conversion into a railroad museum. For many years he wrote a column entitled "Aunt Polly" for the Cookeville Dispatch. Upon his retirement from the SSA, he was a columnist for the Cookeville Herald-Citizen and was a regular contributor to the HighBaller, a publication of the Depot Museum. Mr. Holliman is survived by three children, Glenn N. Holliman (Barbara) of Newport, PA; Rebecca Holliman Payne (Paul) of Cookeville, Tennessee and Alice Holliman Murphy (Bill) of Trophy Club, Texas. He is also survived by eight grandchildren: Grace Holliman, Bryan Payne, Erin Murphy Hensley, Chris Holliman, Jonathan Murphy, Allison Payne Mahan, Patrick Murphy and Sean Murphy and eighteen great-grandchildren; Will, Holly, Drew, Camille, Juliana, Heidi, Macy, Josalyn, Zachary, Katie Grace, Abel, Raimey, Derek, John, Jake, Killian, Ashton and Mia. Serving as pallbearers are Bryan Payne, Jonathan Murphy, Patrick Murphy, Sean Murphy and Jason Mahan. In addition, Lori Griggs and Logan McClain, caregivers for Mr. Holliman in his last months are recognized for their dedication and many kindnesses, as well as the staff at Heritage Point. Memorial contributions may be given to the Cookeville Friends of the Depot P.O. Box 1034 Cookeville, TN 38503, or First United Methodist Church, 165 East Broad Street, Cookeville, TN 38501. Hooper Huddleston and Horner Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. (931)526-6111 You may share your thoughts and memories at www.hhhfunerals.com