Holloway, William “Bill” Knox

William “Bill” Knox Holloway passed away on Friday, March 22nd at the age of 83.  Bill was born in San Francisco, his early years in the Bay area and Long Beach.  In the mid 1950’s, his family settled in Sonora where he graduated from Sonora High School.  Bill always had a long lineage in Tuolumne County, his family on his mother’s side (Knox and Miller) dated back to the 1800s.  Bill was married to Jan Holloway for 63 years and they had one son, Tom Holloway (Beth Holloway), granddaughters, Megan Hahn (Kevin Hahn) of Long Beach and Emma Holloway of Nashville, and great grandson, Benjamin William Hahn adored his ‘Pupah’.

A life well lived, he loved his family, Sonora, and most importantly helping people.  He worked in heavy construction his whole life, well into his 70’s, becoming the manager for California Drilling and Blasting for the last 30+ years.  He worked on iconic projects and travel throughout California and Nevada, visiting some incredibly beautiful locations.  In his travels he would often take time to hike through the mountains or the desert.

His days were filled with countless hours working in his yard on ‘the hill’ in downtown Sonora.  He seemed to have limitless energy to make his world a more beautiful place, nurturing his garden and his friendships.  He was well known at the local nurseries and hardware stores and always had a smile, a story, and a few minutes to listen.

Bill was also a helping hand to anyone in need.  He would get people jobs, a place to live, and help them traverse some of life’s complexities.  There are countless people in the community whose start or sunset in life was made a little better having had Bill in their corner.

We have lost a man who could easily recall how so many people in our community were related.  He could always remember who had been married to whom; whose parents or aunts and uncles had been here for a hundred years, and he usually had a good story to go along with the relationships.  There is hardly a person that has been here longer than two generations that does not have a connection to Bill.

We will miss him dearly and will have a hole in our hearts for quite some time.

• Date of Death: 03/22/2024
• Age: 83
• Residence: Sonora, CA