William R. Holly

William R. Holly died on March 25, 2023 at age 83. He was born in 1939 in Middletown NY to Robert W. Holly and Noelda Holly.
He attended Colonie Central Schools in New York state and enlisted in the Coast Guard while still in high school. After graduation in 1957 he transferred to active duty and served 22 years as a radioman retiring as a Chief Petty Officer in 1979. In 1964 he married Frances Schoneich whom he met in first grade. They would have been married 59 years in August. They moved to Maine in 1966 where he spent many years at sea on weather cutters, relaying weather reports for NOAA from weather stations from various spots in the North Atlantic.After retirement from the Coast Guard, he worked for 21 years as a master electrician at the old Portsmouth Hospital and at Portsmouth Regional Hospital.
He was an amateur radio operator for more than 55 years, holding the station license K1BH. He was an authority on the history of radio and wireless telegraphy, and the Atlantic telegraph cable. He wrote two books, as well as numerous articles on the subject which were published in the Antique Wireless Association's annual review and other publications. He was a member of the Port City Amateur Radio Club and of the Antique Wireless Association, a Friend of the Portsmouth Athenaeum, and a life member of the American Radio Relay League.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Fran, and two daughters, Robin Holly and her husband Jonathan Turner, and Kate Holly-Clark and her husband Tim Clark.
Funeral arrangements will be private. Donations are encouraged to Footprints Food Pantry, P.O. Box 246, Kittery, Maine 03904 or to the animal shelter of the donor's choice. Care for the Holly family has been entrusted to the JS Pelkey & Son Funeral Home.