A Personal Remembrance of Nancy Carol Cornelius Morton (1945-2024) by Glenn N. Holliman

The Loss of a Cousin

Growing up in the 1950s and 60s in Alabama, we knew the elder daughter of Walter F. (1922 -2007) and Virgina Holliman Cornelius  (1922-2011) by her full name, Nancy Carol.  Later in adulthood, we knew her as only Carol, a gregarious, attractive lady, who at family reunions greeted relatives with a sunshine smile and was quick to ask how you and others were doing. I would describe her personality as 'sparkling', lighting up a room by her presence.

Carol grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, attended Shades Valley High School and later the University of Alabama.  Her first home was in nearby Shelby, where her grandparents ran a country store.

Right, Virginia and Walter in 1945.

In the 1950 census, her father is recorded as the manager of the store.  Ambitious, Walter, a World War II veteran, earned a law degree in 1953 and lawyering became his career.  Her mother, Virginia, my father's youngest sister, after giving birth in 1949 to a second daughter, Susan, became a teller in a bank, and made banking a career, breaking many class ceilings rising to a vice president of one of Alabama's major financial institutions.

Below, the Cornelius family in 1959

Carol, herself became a nurse and married Carl A. Blomstran in 1966. Settled in Texas,  the marriage brought forth a daughter Carla Ann and a son, Eric Walter Blomstran.  Tragically, Eric died in 2002 in an automobile wreck. In a second marriage, Carol gave birth to another son, Richard Bruce Kilian. He too died prematurely in 2014 on an airplane flight.

                                               Right, Carol and Chuck in the 1990s

It is said three is a charm, and so it was for Carol in 1993 when she became the wife of a Navy veteran, Charles (Chuck) E. Morton.  A deep-sea explorer for the Navy, a leg injury forced an early retirement from the service.  Chuck, a kindly, caring man of faith, became her caregiver in the 2010s when Carol developed the same illness that took her mother, Alzheimer's.  Chuck, having relocated to Mexico for supporting assistance, stood by her for years until she slipped away in October 2024.  

Before growing ill in the 2010s, Carol, Chuck and I visited, once in their home in San Antonio, again at my sister Becky's home in Tennessee and finally for the last time in 2014 when they stayed with my wife, Barb, and me in Pennsylvania.  During these visits, Carol shared her memories of growing up during the Civil Rights era in Birmingham, Alabama (where we both were born, she in 1945, me in 1946). Both our fathers were WWII veterans and both completed college and advance degrees thanks to the GI Bill.

In 2012, Carol and Bishop Holliman holding a photograph of Bishop's great grandmother, Mary (Polly) Holliman

Looking back, Carol told me of the difficult marriage of her parents, eventually resulting in a divorce. She described how insulated she had been of the history that was occurring in Birmingham during her teens. She like me had attended racially exclusive schools and churches as we both came of age in a deeply segregated society. We marveled at how America had changed for the better, a more open inclusive country.  She shared with me her growing faith which had supported her when she lost her two sons. Both in our 60s at the time of these conversations, I was touched and enriched by her memories and reflections on her life's journey.  

She is gone now, at peace after a long, lingering illness, escorted and blessed in her final days by a very caring husband. He now lives in Colorado with a relative. If ever there was a saint, his name is Chuck.  - GNH

 

A Remembrance of Mary Daly Herrin (1931-2024)

 Ever the Family Hostess for her Generation by Glenn N. Holliman

Mary Daly Herrin, vibrant, energetic with a smile and laughter, was a constant in my family’s life and in the lives of many cousins and her aunts and uncles.

At age five, I remember the night in 1951 when Mary said her wedding vows with Elliot Clayton Herrin, Jr. in Irondale, Alabama.

My family lived in nearby Trussville from 1950 until 1952, as my father taught at Shades Valley High School. Later he accepted a position with the Social Security Administration, first in Birmingham and in time offices in Tennessee, South Carolina, and in the early 1960s in Gadsden, Alabama.

Why do I remember that evening in 1951 so clearly? A song was playing on the radio —
“Goodnight Irene, Goodnight Irene, I will see you in my dreams.”  To this day it echoes in my mind, just as do the many times Mary and her family welcomed us — the out‑of‑state relatives — into their homes.

Mary (1931–2024) was the firstborn child of Robert W. Daly, Sr. (1901-1959) and his young bride, Vena Holliman (1909-1990), both of Irondale, Alabama. She grew up surrounded by family stories and generations who valued being together. Her father, a Woodlawn, Alabama banker, often took Mary and the family on fishing trips to Florida in the 1930s—memories that became part of family lore.

Clearwater, Florida in 1934, left to right Virginia Holliman Cornelius, Mary, Vena and Bishop Holliman, this writer's father.

     

This 1939 photograph is of Mary, her grandmother Pearl, Charles H. Ferrell and Carolyn Ferrell Tatum. Pearl was 51 years old. 

       Mary poses in 1943 with her grandfather Ulyss in Irondale.  The family chicken house is pictured in the background.

                                          Mary, Vena and Mary's brother, Robert W. Daly, Jr. (1943-2024)

 

 Mary's 1951 wedding photograph announcing her engagement to Elliot Clayton Herrin, Jr. a classmate at Howard College.  Mary and E.C.’s 1951 wedding marked the beginning of a life built around hospitality and family ties. They made their homes in Irondale, and over the years it became a gathering place for generations.

In 1953, Mary posed with her grandmother Pearl (1888-1955) on the left, her mother Vena and sitting holding Mary's first borne Elliot Clayton Herrin, III. (1953-2021) is Lula Hocutt Caine (1861-1957).  Known in the family as Grandma Caine, her father died at the Civil War Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1863. Mary and E.C. would welcome three more children into their family - Linda Herrin Bradley, Suzanne Herrin Wilder and David Herrin.  

Mary and E.C. Open their Home for a Summer Reunion in 1968

The summer of 1968 at Mary and E.C.'s home in Irondale, the former home of Robert and Vena Daly.  Mary is sitting next to E.C. who is holding David Herrin on his lap. The writer is standing on the 3rd row far left, just back from passing the Army physical. Six months later I would be in Vietnam.  Mary, Vena, Motie and Loudell all wrote to me while I was overseas, just as they had done for my father, Bishop, standing far right, third row, during World War II. Pictured are Ralph Holliman and Walter Cornelius, also WWII overseas veterans. E.C. served in the Navy during the Cold War.

1970, Mary and daughter Linda Herrin Bradley at a 1970 reunion in Irondale. In the 2000s, following in the footsteps of her parents Linda has opened her home on numerous occasions for reunions of the extended families.

The 1982 Reunion 

What Mary and E.C. did in 1982 and numerous other times, was to welcome the clan to their home in Irondale, Alabama.  Mary is sitting on the back left in a white blouse with a red blaze on her shoulder. E.C., standing in the back row far left, must be wondering what his water bill would be as sixty-three relatives came for lunch!  

A Historical Note:

Every one pictured in these group photographs was descended from or in a relationship with a descendant of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman, both born in Fayette County, Alabama in the 1880s, one generation after the Civil War. Both had limited educations, Ulyss only finishing the sixth grade.  They entered life before electric lights, automobiles, airplanes and radios. Ulyss's father, John Thomas Holliman (1844-1930), fought in seven battles in the Confederate Army.  None in this direct paternal Holliman line, since the arrival in Jamestown, Virginia of Christopher Hollyman in 1650 (1618-1692), ever owned enslaved persons.  The ancestors of Ulyss migrated from Virginia to the Carolinas arriving in Alabama in 1836, occupying land recently occupied by the Choctaw nation before their removal to what is now Oklahoma.

The 1996 Reunion

We were older, children had grown up, new children were present and for some marriage partners were different. Sadly the angel Gabriel had blown his horn for several aunts and uncles. Mary is middle left, now with gray hair.  For some of us, the hairs on our heads were fewer. Mary was still there—her smile just as warm. She remained the steady center, holding us together.

 Mary and Bishop Holliman (1919-2018), her uncle but more like a brother in 2011, again at Mary and E.C.'s home in Irondale.  

Mary (1931-2024) and E.C. Herrin (1930-2015)

They generously opened their hearts and homes to the descendants of the Holliman, Daly and Herrin families for which their many relatives are grateful.

From Generation to Generation

The Passing of the Grandchildren of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman by Glenn N. Holliman

It is said that funerals become a time for family reunions, and so it was recently with the passing of a gentle, vibrant soul, Jean Holliman, the fourth of six children of Euhal and Edna Westbrook Holliman.  Sadly, Jean's death was the most recent of the loss of four other grandchildren of Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman in the past few years.

                 Euhal, Edna and Jean, 1985

 Since 2023, we have lost cousins Terry Holliman, Nancy Carol Cornelius Morton,  Mary Daly Herrin and Robert W. Daly, Jr.

To refresh memories there were nineteen children born to the seven children of Ulyss (1884-1965) and Pearl Caine Holliman (1888-1955) of Fayette County and later in life, Irondale, Alabama.  The seven children in chonological birth order are Melton (1908-1958), Vena (1909-1990), Euhal (1912-1989), Loudell (1914-1998), Bishop (1919-2018), Virginia (1922-2011) and Ralph (1924-2017).

Nineteen grandchildren of Ulyss and Pearl were born between 1931 and 1956. Thirteen survive as of this writing.

Attending Jean's funeral in Trussville, Alabama were left to right Jean's brother Bill, his family Kathryn Holliman Woods, Kyle Finley (Joey's husband). Rossi Arnold (Bill's grand daughter), Joey Holliman (Rossi's mother), then Bill's wife Beverly Holliman and Bill's brother-in-law Wally Allen, husband of Tommie Holliman.

Also present left to right, this writer, Glenn N. Holliman, Wally Allen next to his daughter Holly, Tommie Holliman Allen, Brian Allen, Linda Herrin Bradley, David Herrin and Alice Holliman Murphy.  Other family members, Nancy Holliman Justice and her husband Bobby were present but out of camera range.  Nancy lives in Southaven MS about a 5 minute drive from her mother Ann, the third born child of Euhal and Edna.  Nancy's two sons Michael and Jeffery live in Dothan, Alabama.

The family of Euhal and Edna had lost Jerry Holliman in 2003 and his twin, Terry Holliman on December 28, 2023.  Bill Holliman emailed me the following on Terry's life.

"Terry passed on Dec 28, 2023 at his home in Green Valley AZ. He joined the Anchorage, Alaska Fire Department as a volunteer while serving in the Army. His duty station in the Army was in the Federal Building in downtown Anchorage. The fire station was across the street from the Federal Building. He retired from the fire department with the rank of assistant fire chief.  He had four children with Georgi Hercha, his first wife.  Terry Ann died at birth, and three who survive him, Bronwyn, Jodi and Jason. His second wife Deborah had a child, Samantha, from a previous marrieage that Terry adopted."  Picture right are Debbie and Terry in 2001.

Like Terry and Jerry, their brother Bill was attracted to Alaska, going to college there and working in the airline industry. He returned to Birmingham to the employment of another airline and over twenty-five years was stationed at five different airports. His next career move led to being a freight customs broker, and then a position with the Customs and Border Protection agency in Memphis, finally retiring for good in 2019.

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The picture left is of Jerry Holliman with his nephew Brian Allen in 2002.

Terry's twin brother Jerry had entered the Army at the same time as Terry, only he was sent to Germany.  When Jerry left the Army, he joined Terry in Anchorage.  As noted, Jerry died July 16, 2003 while employed as a supervisor with Alaska Airline."

This writer, who spent the first two weeks of his life at the Ulyss and Pearl Caine Holliman home on 3rd Avenue in Irondale in 1946, remembered a time in the early 1960s when Jean joined me on a walk on the property pointing out where Grandmother Holliman had located her chicken house. There was Christmas 1960 when Bobby Daly and I played touch football with Jerry and Terry on the Daly lawn in Irondale.  Such memories of cousins, the aunts and uncles, form the fabric of a person's life.

In my next articles, will celebrate the lives of departed cousins Mary Daly Herrin, Robert W. Daly, Jr. and Nancy Carol Cornelius Morton.