Gary Don Holliday, formerly of Elm Creek, Nebraska, was born on May 19, 1940, at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and passed away on Jan. 15, 2024, in Inola, Oklahoma, at the age of 83.
Graveside services were held on Jan. 22, 2024, at the Seneca Cemetery in Seneca, Nebraska. AB Cox officiated.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund to help injured rodeo athletes and their families.
Don and Betty and their boys spent the early years living in their beloved Sandhills.
Family and friends were very important to Don; he never knew a stranger. Don loved the Sandhills of Nebraska and the cowboy way.
Don was a member and former trustee of First Baptist Church in Kearney, Nebraska.
Don was a member of the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association), the USTRC (United States Team Roping Championships) and of the Mid-States Rodeo Association.
Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Betty (Spencer) Holliday; son Todd (Shelly) Holliday of Chouteau, Okla.; granddaughter Taylor (Ridge) Evans and their children Ryatt LeRoy and Canyon Rhae of Lemoyne, Neb.; grandsons Peyton (Randi) Holliday and daughter Pistol Lynn of Chouteau, Okla.; Chris and Spencer Holliday and daughter-in-law Melissa of Lincoln, Neb.; niece, Brandie (Patrick) Fleming of Golden Valley, Ariz., nephew David (Dawn) Rogers of Kingman, Ariz., and stepmother Mary Roberts, of Fort Myers, Fla.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Lois (Vernon) Holliday, son Jeffery Holliday, sister Donna Lynn and her husband John Rogers.