Natchez loses former banker, city clerk in death of Donnie Holloway

Published 9:29 pm Wednesday, December 4, 2024

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NATCHEZ — Natchez is remembering Donnie Holloway as a dedicated public servant and a good friend.

Former banker and Natchez City Clerk, Donnie Holloway, 77, died Monday after a bout of pneumonia.

His wife, Agnes, said Holloway had battled lung cancer since the beginning of 2024 and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

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“He ended up getting sick and was in the hospital here for several days when they discovered pneumonia and blood clots. They sent him to Baptist Hospital in Jackson,” she said. “He just couldn’t fight that pneumonia.”

Holloway came to Natchez in the mid-1970s from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. His family home was in Ocean Springs. Holloway was born in Biloxi, where his older brother, the late A.J. Holloway, served as mayor from 1992 through 2015. A.J. died in 2018. Holloway’s sister, Dale Holloway Steckler, who moved to Natchez after marrying the late Dr. David Steckler, died on May 22, 2020.

Holloway came to Natchez at the urging of the late Jack Hill, with whom he went to banking school at LSU. Hill was president of what was then First Natchez Bank and he hired Holloway.

Holloway was elected city clerk in Natchez in 2000 and served four times in that office.

Mrs. Holloway said Holloway was a “very dedicated man. He really wanted to serve the people.”

Holloway served on the port commission for a number of years, as well as the Cathedral school board.

“He was active in things that were not only good for his family but good for the community,” she said.

Natchez attorney Walter Brown said he knew Holloway long before he came to Natchez.

“His family is very prominent on the Gulf Coast,” Brown said. “We became friends, and when he was elected city clerk, he was always very cooperative and helpful in keeping the city’s records and, more importantly, acting as the personnel officer with the employees of the city.

“He loved the City of Natchez and he loved being in politics, as did his family. He was a dear friend and a very dedicated public servant to the City of Natchez,” Brown said.

Johnny Byrne was a longtime friend of Holloway’s.

“He was a good man and he is going to be missed tremendously by a lot of people,” Byrne said. “He was low-key but always had other people’s best interests at heart. Donnie was a good public servant. He tried every way he could to better our city. He was a good friend of mine, but when he was city clerk, he never let friendship get in the way of doing the very best for the City of Natchez.”

Holloway is survived by his wife, Agnes Rodriguez Holloway, and three children, sons David and Jamie and daughter Erinn.

Funeral services are Wednesday at 11 a.m. at St. Mary Basilica under the direction of Laird Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Natchez City Cemetery. Visitation is Tuesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at St. Mary Basilica.