Mary, Ma, Mother, Mrs. Holloway.

Those are the names that she was known by.  Mary Dickinson Holloway, 89 years old, left this world for the eternal one on Sunday, February 6th, 2022.  She was born to Mathew and Luana McConnell Dickinson on March 2nd, 1932 in Brighton, Alabama.

Mary, the wife of Willie Lawrence Holloway, put her husband first because of her respect for him.  He knew he could trust his heart with her because she put him before herself.

Ma, life-giver and nurturer of 7. She watched over her household. Making sure everyone was fed, clothed, and taught balance with Family time and Faith time. Mother, one of the  women of New Revelation Missionary Baptist Church where she took her children weekly and served diligently as choir member, secretary and treasurer.  Mother drove the church van.  She picked up Sunday School students, vacation Bible schoolers, volunteers, visitors and friends. Some early weekdays found her driving the elderly members to different community functions.

Mrs. Holloway, as she was known in the neighborhood, was the basketball mom who welcomed all the kids in Ward 2 to play.  She could be spotted on Nelson Avenue collecting for various charities like American Red Cross, Breast Cancer Research and the March of Dimes.  This was sometimes after a long day’s work at a self-owned business, SunRay Furniture on Kinsman Avenue. And if that wasn’t enough…it was nothing for her to pull out the grill and prepare polish boys and hot dogs and have a garage sale in the front yard.

In later years though, Mary wasn’t as strong.  However, she did not become idle. She continued to wash clothes for the needy as a hobby, care for her husband, nurture her grandkids and occasionally enjoy MSNBC’s Joy Reid and Rachel Maddow news reports.  Mary loved sports! Her favorite teams were the Cleveland Browns, Cavaliers, Indians, now Guardians and the Ohio State Buckeyes.  She is Cleveland’s Number #1 Fan! Often at the quieter end of the day, Mary would telephone her sister in Warrensville Heights and her brother in Detroit and talk for as long as she liked.

She was a sweetheart.  A woman of love. A woman of purpose. A woman of God!  She was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers Leon, Mathew Jr. and James; and her sisters Florene Hyatt and Gaynell Moore.

She is survived by her husband, Willie Lawrence Holloway of Cleveland, Ohio; sons Larry C. (Nettie) and Ray L. Holloway; daughters Wanda J. Lewis, Cecilia D. Yarbrough (George), Sandra E. Scott, Tangie Y. Holloway and Gezel R. Simmons (LeRoy); stepson Lamonte Washington (Nicole); sister Lillian Burt; and brother Clyde Dickinson (Adell).

She leaves to cherish her memory: sisters-in-law Mattie McKinney Hatchett and Marian Pledger; brother-in-law Reginald Holloway; 13 grandchildren; 20 great grandchildren; 4 great great grandchildren; and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, neighbors and friends.