Louise Martin Odom Holladay

1926 - 2018

Louise Martin Odom Holladay, 91, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, June 2, 2018 at Warwick Forest Retirement Community. She fought a long battle with dementia and congestive heart failure. She was born in Emporia, VA October 30, 1926, to Lorenzo Paul Odom and Annie Louise Stallings Odom. Louise was a homemaker; making a home wherever the Army sent her family: Apeldoorn, The Netherlands (Holland), Fort Eustis and Newport News, VA. Unlike many, that was the extent of their Army travels. She loved to write letters and send cards (Hallmark in Denbigh was her place to be, on first name bases with the ladies). She loved to read, do crossword puzzles, word search, crafts, working in her yard and spending time with her family & friends. She loved to travel and loved for family and friends to come and stay at the “Holladay Inn�! Early on she was active at her children's school, scouts, the NCO Wives Club at Fort Eustis and “The Retired NCO Wives Group�. She was active in the Denbigh Chapter of the DAV, where they spent most of the fall and winter days writing thousands of notes in Christmas cards to send to our Military Service members deployed. That gave her the greatest pleasure; something she started doing as a teenager during WWII. She was a Pin Pal to many. When troop trains went through Emporia headed to the coast, some of the young men heading to Europe would toss notes off the train with their name and address on them. She was preceded in death by her parents and two older sisters, Elizabeth O. Thompson and Lynette O. Powell, and her husband of 55 years, SFC(R) John Benjamin Holladay, Jr. She will be missed and always loved by her daughter, Anne (Ronnie) Jenkins, of Newport News VA, her two sons, David (Teresa) Holladay, of Calabash, NC and John (Paula) Holladay of Euless, TX. Also left to cherish her memory are her grandchildren, Renee Long, Dawn Major, Michael Ray Jenkins, Ryan, Will and Sam Holladay and Joseph Amaral. Grammie, as her great-grandchildren called her, are Brittany, Tyler, Nathan, Lindsey, Lauren, Haley, Cody, Annika, Henry and Evanelina. Also by her nephew, Paul (Brenda) Thompson and niece, Cheryl (Jack) Council. The Holladay family would like to extend our gratitude to the nursing staff and the Aides at The Keswick Place at Warwick Forest and to the Riverside Hospice Care Nurse. Thank You All for your loving care and support over the past two years. To her friends...Thank you for the phone calls and visits. You all meant the world to her. The family will greet friends at Weymouth Funeral Home, on Thursday, June 7, 2018 from 6:00-8:00pm. Funeral Services will be conducted Friday, June 8, 2018, at 1:00pm at Weymouth Funeral Home, followed by interment at Hampton Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, Memorial donations may be made to the local Alzheimer's Association, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society or to a charity of your choice. Arrangements by Weymouth Funeral Home.