John Kyle Hollaway

John Kyle Hollaway died on the morning of September 19 in New Braunfels, Texas. He was born at Fort Hood, Texas on February 15, 1956, the only son of Herman Kyle Hollaway, Jr. and Frances Kuehn Hollaway. He was welcomed by his sister, Susan, and enjoyed being the baby of the family until a few years later when his sister, Janice, was born.

John spent the first few years of his life in Belton, Texas before the family moved to Houston in the winter of 1960 where he started school. He spent his childhood like any other child of the ‘60s--riding his bike all over the neighborhood, building forts in the backyard, playing outside with the other kids in the neighborhood, and coming inside when the streetlights came on. His family moved to his mother’s hometown of Gonzales, Texas in the late 1960’s, where John made many new friends and continued his education. John found himself back on the Gulf Coast in the early ‘70s, and finished school in LaMarque, Texas.

He worked with his father in the landscape and nursery business for a number of years before joining the U.S Navy. He spent the coldest winter of his life when stationed in Chicago during the blizzard of 1979, one of the largest Chicago snowstorms in history at the time. John also spent time in Jacksonville, Florida and at the Norfolk Shipyard in Virginia and was stationed on the USS Dale during his 6 year Navy stint.

John became an oil and gas landman after he was honorably discharged from the Navy and had a successful career for many years. He was an exceptionally gifted craftsman, working with the cypress trees that had fallen during the Wimberley Flood of 2015. His pieces grace the homes of many of the survivors.

John is preceded in death by his parents and his brother-in-law, David Hinton. He is survived by his sisters, Susan Hinton of Georgetown, Texas and Janice Hollaway of Houston, Texas. Also surviving him are his nieces, Elizabeth Hinton of Austin, Texas and Sarah Hinton of San Marcos, Texas. John Kyle Hollaway was buried at Ft. Sam National Cemetery on September 25. A memorial service is planned early in 2021.