Holliman, Mary Constance

Mary Holliman, 80, of Blacksburg, Va., born January 28, 1930, passed away on August 13, 2010, in Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem, Va. from complications of heart disease. She was surrounded by her loving family at the time of her death. She is survived by her son, C. James Holliman, M.D., of Hershey, Pa.; her grandson, Mark Holliman, of Edinburgh, Scotland; her granddaughter, Jennifer Holliman, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and her granddaughter, Maggie Holliman, of Radford, Va.; her grandson, William Holliman, of Radford, Va.; her previous husband, Dr. Rhodes Burns Holliman, of Dublin, Va.; her sister, Ruth Bloom Blankenship, of Lewisburg, Pa., and Ruth’s children, Jesse IV, of Texas, Leota Julians, of Florida, and Lynda Barrett, of Pennsylvania, and their 14 children scattered throughout the country; and many loving Lepard and Bloom cousins, as well as numerous other family members. She was preceded in death by her younger son, Daniel R. Holliman, M.D., in 2008. She will be sorely missed but forever remembered for her many achievements and service to family and the community. She was very devoted to her home town of Blacksburg, Va. where she served on the Town Council and Town Planning Commission. She was involved in multiple projects and programs to improve life for others in Blacksburg and in Southwestern Virginia. Mary was an active member of the Blacksburg Ruritan Club and other local civic organizations. She was very devoted to her family and gave fully of herself to aid and support family members. Completely on her own, she founded the book publishing firm of “Pocahontas Press” and published numerous books with an emphasis on books about Southwestern Virginia history and culture. She trained numerous interns and others who worked for Pocahontas Press and many have gone on to successful careers in academics and publishing. Mary was an excellent teacher of English and literature and served as faculty at Radford College, Virginia Tech and Blacksburg High School. She has provided career inspiration for numerous students and fellow faculty. She enjoyed traveling and had notable travel experiences including rafting the Grand Canyon, visiting Russia (for which she developed some language fluency in Russian), visiting France, and most recently participating in the Blacksburg sister city group trips to Nicaragua. Her hobbies included gardening, photography, oil painting and she was an avid reader of novels and history books. A memorial service to honor and celebrate her life and achievements will be held Saturday, September 18, 2010, at 7 p.m. at the Blacksburg Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name could be made to The Mary Holliman Memorial Fund of the Sister Cities Project, P.O. Box 299, Blacksburg, Va. 24063. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg.