Dorothy Holliday Fowler

Dorothy Holliday Fowler, aged 95, peacefully passed away on March 28, 2025, at Ballinger Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, where she resided for nine years.

Dorothy was born December 31,1929 to Fred Penn and Katie “Ludric” (Stroble) Holliday.

Like her mother Ludric, Dorothy Ann was raised in Ballinger, TX with a wonderful childhood filled with great times and great friends. The boys have lovely memories of their visits with the grandparents they adored.

Dorothy Holliday was a Fine Arts major at North Texas Women’s College in Denton, TX. She lived in Dallas, where she met Dr. C. Wayne Fowler Jr. of Cotton Valley, LA. who was enrolled at Baylor Dental School in Dallas. After their wedding in Ballinger, they started a family in Dallas with two boys, Chip (b.1953) and Doug (b.1954). They moved to Panama City, FL where Dr. Fowler served as a dentist at Tyndall AFB. In 1958, the family moved to Shreveport, LA where Dr. Fowler established his private dental practice, and their third son Jeff was born.

During the 70's the family moved to New Orleans, LA when Dr. Fowler became a member of the faculty at LSU Dental School. Dorothy received her real estate license in New Orleans and worked as an administrative assistant handing insurance claims for the medical practice of Dr Charles W. Pearce, an esteemed cardiothoracic surgeon who also had roots in Ballinger, TX.

Following their divorce in 1982, Dorothy met Hugh Crawford, a man with a big personality who loved “his Dottie”, and they moved to Carriere, MS after Dorothy retired and converted to Catholicism at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Picayune, MS. He helped her set up her first stained glass studio where she honed her skills and started producing works of art. When Hugh died suddenly in 1997, Dorothy made the decision to return to her roots in Ballinger where she became a member of St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church and served many years working on various church and community projects.

Dorothy continued to share her gift as a skilled artist through designing and hand-crafting stained-glass window art and sold her collection through Sara Thorpe’s lovely store on Hutchins in Ballinger.

She traveled with friends, played mahjong, worked on puzzles, and visited Chip, Melissa, Scott, and Colin in San Francisco when they lived there. She also frequently visited Houston after all three boys moved to the area.

She will always be remembered as a sweet lady with her love of watching birds. The enjoyment it gave her to make certain all the birds were fed well was endearing, and hunters always thanked her for her efforts.

Most importantly, Dorothy's love and devotion to successfully raising her three boys, Chip, Doug and Jeff was what made her most proud. She always gave words of wisdom and advice when needed and she made them feel special by showing affection and love at unexpected times. They remember a mom who willingly went camping and dove hunting, enjoying the great outdoors.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, Fred Penn Holliday, Sr. (d.1984) and Ludric Stroble Holliday, (d.1965) twin brothers, Fred Penn Holliday, Jr. (d.1954) and Robert Lewis Holliday (d. 1978) and her son, Robert Jeffrey Fowler (d. 2024).

She is survived by her loving children, Fred Douglas Fowler of Arlington, TX and C Wayne Fowler, III and his wife, Melissa (Miller) of Houston, TX. She will be dearly missed by her grandsons, Scott Holliday Fowler of Houston, TX, Colin Wayne Fowler, his wife Anya (Edenburn), her great-grandchildren Ewan and Stellan of Austin, TX and her precious Goddaughter, Catherine Cecil Davidson of Dripping Springs, TX.

Private graveside services for Dorothy will be conducted at Evergreen Cemetery at a future date.

Our family would like to express appreciation for and gratitude to our second family at Ballinger Healthcare and Rehab for the nine years of wonderful care and the memories we made with so many of you. It was always a comfort to know Dorothy was truly cared for by your staff. She was a prolific “texter”, keeping in touch with her family, working on puzzles in her room, playing games on her phone and walking outside to feed the birds. Physical Therapist, David Robinson made certain her rehab always included those walks to feed the birds.

The staff at BHC & Rehab, Dr. Karen Rightmire at Ballinger Hospital, Debbie and Tammy at St. Gabriel’s Hospice provided invaluable support during Dorothy's final weeks, offering comfort to Chip, who was by her side as well as to her devoted family.

We appreciate Gary and Sharon Eklund for being good neighbors to Dorothy and looking after her home while we were away, and Steve Overby for maintaining her yard for many years. Stella Turner at Trendsetters always kept Dorothy looking her best through many years of her love and hair magic.

When our care for Dorothy started with her breaking her hip in 2014, we had no idea this journey would give us such great friends as Bruce, Andye, John and Ethan Havlak, Dolores Guebara, Patrick Duarte and also the Ballinger “Friday Lunch Bunch”. Coming from Houston, a town with millions of people, these friends turned out to be truly one in a million and we can’t thank each of you enough for your friendship these past ten years.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in her memory to Ballinger Cares, PO BOX 802, Ballinger, TX 76821; St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, 605 North Fifth Street, Ballinger, TX 76821 or your favorite charity of choice.

John 14: 2-4 DRB

In my Father's house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I shall go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself; that where I am, you also may be. 4And whither I go you know, and the way you know.