Thomas Holly

Mr. Thomas Gerald Holly, age 87 of Nashville, died Wednesday morning at his residence.

Mr. Holly is survived by his wife: Paulette Burger Holly; three daughters: Carlyn McGhee, Joy Holly, and Carol Scarborough; two sons: Thomas Gerald Holly, Jr. and Joshua Daniel Holly, all of Nashville; and a sister: Mrs. Lurline Turner of Lewisburg. 3 grandchildren also survive.

Funeral services will be conducted Friday at 10:00 AM from the chapel of Bills McGaugh Funeral Home. Burial in Lone Oak Cemetery with full military honors.

The family will be at Bills McGaugh Funeral Home from 4:00 until 8:00 PM on Thursday for visitation, and Friday until the funeral hour.

*The following is from the Nashville Tennessean, Thursday, May 20, 2004*

'Gerald Holly was a gentle man who was also a tough-nosed journalist,' Tennessean Editor Frank Sutherland said. 'He photographed every sort of Tennessean, from its movers and shakers to people in trouble with the law.

'His brand of photojournalism doesn't come along often, but I'm glad it came our way.'

In addition to working at the newspaper for three decades, Mr. Holly took photographs that appeared in National Geographic, as well as Time and Life magazines.

In June 1977, Time ran a picture on its cover that he had taken of convicted assassin James Earl Ray a week or so before Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tenn. Mr. Holly had taken the picture after going to the maximum-security prison in East Tennessee along with a reporter who was interviewing Ray.

Mr. Holly also worked with the photo agency Black Star for 15 years. After retiring from The Tennessean, he served as photographer for Vanderbilt University for 15 years.

He was also a talented cartoonist and illustrated a column, 'It Happened Hereabouts,' that appeared in the old Tennessean Magazine. The column featured funny stories submitted by readers.

He photographed early civil rights demonstrations here, as well as Elvis Presley's visits to Nashville and the scene of country music star Patsy Cline's fatal plane crash.

In 1976 he traveled to Memphis to photograph boxing legend Muhammad Ali campaigning for John Jay Hooker as Hooker made a bid for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate.

Born in Marshall County, Mr. Holly was the son of T.C. and Flossie Luna Holly and a graduate of Cornersville High School. For two years he attended Watkins Institute here now Watkins College of Art and Design, and he served in the U.S. Navy for nine months in 1945-46.