Lee McBride Holley
August 23, 1930 – June 14, 2023
Lee was born in Decatur, Alabama to Leona Knox Laxson and Olan Lee McBride. She grew up in Huntsville and graduated from Huntsville High School. She was married a short time to William Charles Kennedy III. In 1959 her true love came along, and Max Holley proposed to her at Gibson’s Barbeque (they loved to return to eat there). They were married at the First Methodist Church in Huntsville. Over the course of their 63 years of marriage they also lived in Seabrook, Texas and Columbus, Ohio before returning to where they started in Huntsville.
She became a reporter in Seabrook, Texas and was a groundbreaker for women in the 1960’s covering the Apollo moon landing and working with leading space writers from around the world. An article about her quoted her “people think life of a reporter is all glamor, but I spent long hours attending briefings, studying transcripts and news releases to have a working knowledge of each mission.” The article also described her as a woman with much more to her credit than her good looks. She was a beauty with a brain and a strong will and determination.
After 10 years of reporting for the News Citizen and doing research for Newsweek and Worldbook Science Services she decided to stop writing and open an antique shop. Just like everything else she did, Lee Holley Antiques was the largest and best in the area. She was also involved in the community as a member of the Chamber of Commerce and on the board of directors for the Clear Lake Water Authority. She lived a robust active life with great humor and lived her life to the fullest.
She is survived by her loving husband, Max Dean Holley; daughters, Kandy Lee Lawson and husband, Rick, and Dawn Holley; grandchildren, Kelly Lawson, Holley Fincher, Max Reed and George Reed; great-grandchildren, Christian Hosler, Angel Lawson, Hannah Nicolson, C. J. Nicholson, Adam Cervantes, David Fincher, John Fincher, and Cora Bernard; and great-great-grandchildren, Weston Lawson, Paislee Perkins and Freya Hosler.
After a Celebration of Life at 2 p.m., Thursday, June 22 at Laughlin Service Funeral Home, she will be interred in Maple Hill Cemetery where her mother and sister Ann are also buried. She loved bright colors and attendees are encouraged to wear them.
Love endures forever.
