Laurens Moore Center Hollis, 93, of Peachtree City, Ga., passed away on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at home under the care of hospice.
She was born December 4, 1923 in College Park, Ga. to Edgar Sumter Center, Jr. and Alpha Moore Center. She married Col. Jeff F. Hollis on March 7, 1952.
Laurens’ husband, Jeff Hollis; son, Howell Hollis; and sister, Pat preceded her in death.
She is survived by her daughter, Cleary Hollis Tanner (John) of Douglas, Ga.; her son, Jeff Free Hollis of Fayetteville, Ga.; her grandchildren, Drew Tanner of Douglas, Ga., Hamp Tanner of Fernandina Beach, Fla., Tiffany Tanner Walton of Atlanta, Ga., Christi Hollis of Los Angeles, Calif., Cleary Hollis Ramirez of Jacksonville, Fla., and Beau Hollis of Orlando, Fla.; and 14 great-grandchildren. The family extends special love and thanks to Carol Rose, who cared for Laurens devotedly for the final months.
During her career in civil service Laurens achieved the GS 13 rank, equivalent to a Colonel in the Army. She was director of Domestic Intelligence with the 4th Service Command (later 3rd Army), and was awarded the Meritorius Award and pin for her service- she was one of only two non-military persons to receive this award.
After her marriage, Laurens cared for her home and family, while living on Army posts around the world. During their time in the Army, she enjoyed playing Mah Jong and bridge with the other army wives, and entertaining. Beginning at Fort MacPherson in East Point, the family traveled to JUSMAG in the Philippines. This trip was made by car from Atlanta to San Francisco, where the family embarked by ship to Hawaii, Guam and the Phillipines. After the two year duty there, the family embarked west by the cargo passenger ship, Hamburg, and made stops in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Ceylon, Djibuti, Aden, Cairo, and finally disembarking in Genoa, Italy. From there by train they traveled to Rome, where Laurens visited The Vatican, with the Sistine Chapel, then Bern, Switzerland, Germany, Paris and finally England, where they embarked on the Liberte (at the time the third largest ship in the world) to New York and back to Atlanta, circumnavigating the world. Next the family was stationed at Ft. Knox, Ky., then Fort Wayne, Mich., where Col. Hollis was Post Commander. After the next assignment to Camp Zama, Japan, they took the last assignment before retirement, back to Fort MacPherson, where it all began. In East Point, Laurens made memorable presentations about her family’s travels to her sons’ classrooms.
After her husband retired in Atlanta, Laurens was very active in her church work, first at the chapel at Fort MacPherson, where she was a member of the Officer Wives Club, and then at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Hapeville. After she moved to Peachtree City she became a very active member of Holy Trinity Catholic Church. She was a Eucharistic minister and lector and attended mass each morning. She was also a member of the Legion of Mary.
Visitation was from 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m., Sunday, October 15, 2017, with the Rosary at 4 p.m., at Carmichael-Hemperley Funeral Home in Peachtree City, Ga. Funeral Mass for Laurens was held at 11 a.m., Monday, October 16, 2017 at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Peachtree City, Ga. A reception followed the service at the church. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. at a later date.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to Shepherds of the Meek, a 501(c)(3) non-profit mission which supports several orphanages in Colombia, South America. Shepherds of the Meek Mission, 156 Peachtree East Shopping Center, #166, Peachtree City, Ga 30269 or www.shepherdsofthemeek.org.
