Dennis Wayne Holley

Dennis Wayne Holley

Dennis W. Holley peacefully passed away on November 29th, 2017 with his family by his side after a very brief battle with cancer.
Dennis was born in Mesa, AZ on January 31st, 1942. He spent his childhood and early adulthood living in Mesa and graduated from Mesa High in 1960. He joined the army right after graduation and was honorably discharged after serving his enlistment time.
While living in Mesa, he met his wife and eternal partner, Gloria Matthews. They were married on January 18th, 1964 and had 3 children. They were later sealed in the LDS Mesa Temple. They continued to live in Mesa until 1968 when Dennis came to Colorado to visit family and fell in love with the mountains. He moved his little family to Montrose where they made their home until the time of his death.
Dennis traveled extensively for his work as a surveyor in construction. After he retired, he continued to travel with his wife across the United States including Alaska and Hawaii. Because of Dennis’s fascination with history, he made a point to visit most of the civil war battlegrounds when they traveled to the south. He and Gloria were also able to go on several cruises together and explore new areas of interest to him. He would always come home with great stories of the things he had seen and explored from whatever adventure they had been on.
Dennis was a teller of tall tales, a hunter and fisherman, an avid historian, an absolute patriot, a published author, a loving husband, father, grandfather and brother, a passionate believer of right and wrong, and a man of men. The stories he would tell, whether true or false, were always entertaining. Getting his kids or grandkids to believe what he was saying was a great challenge and he was up for it. (He usually won this battle).
Laughing and having fun with his family was a favorite experience for him. Most Sundays you could find him sitting on a couch with a plate of homemade food and a crowd of people watching a bronco game. (There was usually yelling, and cheering involved.) Other days you may have found him driving or walking through the mountains looking for wildlife or stumbling onto his kids hunting camp at exactly breakfast time, or you may have found him giving his grandkids a history or life lesson. He was a man of many talents and interests.
Dennis wrote a book that is made up of several musings he had written throughout his life. The book was published in 2016 and was something Dennis was very proud of. He was always surprised and humbled when someone would want him to autograph it.
He loved life and left nothing unturned. He lived a full and successful life with love, laughter and adventure. There will be many stories told about Dennis through the family generations to come. He had such an impact on all the lives he touched and was a part of. There is no greater compliment to a man than to say he mattered and made a difference. This man, our dad, mattered and made a difference. As one young man said at the time of Dennis’s passing, “I hope to be as good a man as he was”. We should all hope and pray that the kind of man Dennis was continues to exist.
Dennis was proceeded in death by his son Patrick Bruce Holley, his sister Linda Holley, his brother Steve Holley and his mother Betty Hill. He is survived by his wife Gloria Jean Holley, his daughters, Jill Holley Cox (Craig) and Dawn Barlow and his brother Donald Holley. Dennis also has 8 wonderful grandkids and 8 equally wonderful great grandchildren.
Services will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 21028 Uncompahgre RD Montrose, Co on December 7th at 1:00 pm.
In Lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please donate to Wounded Warriors in the name of Dennis Holley. Crippin Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.