Savanna Brown Hollar

Savanna Hollar, a masterful gardener and consummate homemaker, passed away peacefully at home Monday, April 7, 2025, surrounded by friends and family at the grand age of 94. 

Born July 7, 1930, to Nora and Walter Brown on a farm in Wilkes County near Traphill, Savanna developed an early love of farming and especially gardening alongside her four older brothers, John, Ralph, Plaid, and Bryce, all of whom preceded her in death.

From an early age, Savanna was a bit of a groundbreaker. Once when she was working in her parents' garden with her brothers, a minister passing by stopped to complain, infuriated that she was wearing pants and not a dress. Her response: "Well, if I have to do men's work, I'm going to wear men's clothes!" She also once saved the day during a class field trip by reaching forward from her seat behind the bus driver and steering the vehicle to safety when he passed out at the wheel. 

After studying business at a High Point business college, Savanna married Gurney Hollar on her 21st birthday in 1951 and relocated to a house they built in Yadkin County and lived in their entire lives. She soon gave birth to two sons, Dale and Keith. A nurturing mother, she always made sure they had everything they needed to thrive, making endless sacrifices along the way.

Savanna was blessed with a particularly vibrant green thumb, growing bountiful fruits and vegetables in her large garden, along with numerous flowers and an exotic collection of other plants. Besides flowers, she also grew corn, peas, squash, blueberries, strawberries, pears, apples, nectarines, cherries, peanuts, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupes, watermelons, and other fruits and vegetables each season. If it would grow in North Carolina, she grew it. She could often be found tending the garden long after the summer heat had driven everyone else inside. She also canned or froze much of her abundant harvest for enjoyment during the colder winter months. 

During visits over the years to botanical gardens throughout North Carolina, Savanna was known to discreetly snip a small cutting from a plant she loved and tuck it in her purse. A couple of years later, a beautiful specimen of that plant would be thriving in her yard – and many still do to this day.

Her yard was a botanical garden in itself. Strangers driving past her house in the Courtney area of Yadkin County would often pull over to admire her vast iris, chrysanthemum, and rose gardens. She never sold any of it; she did it for the sheer joy and beauty.

As a farmer’s wife, Savanna was fully involved in raising chickens, beef cattle, and corn. During the hot summer months, she would often be the one driving the tractor pulling the trailer when it was time to bale hay to feed the cows during the winter. She never shied away from hard work.

In her rare leisure time, she enjoyed summer days relaxing at the 11-acre lake Gurney created in the 1980s. Though she didn’t fish, friends and relatives cast many a line there catching bass and bream. She also hosted the Hollar Family Reunion at the lake each September and was adored by her many nieces and nephews. 

Savanna was a big fan of college basketball, though she never took sides when Duke played North Carolina, the alma maters of her sons, diplomatically saying only, “I just hope it’s a good game.” 

Along with the healthy homegrown fruits and vegetables, Savanna had a healthy sweet tooth, which she passed along to her sons. She especially loved chocolate, and her chocolate-covered cherries at Christmas each year were always a major hit with everyone. 

She always welcomed neighbors and family into her comfortable and tidy home, usually sending them on their way with their car loaded with whatever fruits and vegetables were ripe at the time. As a child of the Great Depression, she always planned for the worst, so even in less fruitful years, there was still plenty of extra to share with friends and family.

With almost unlimited space on her 300-acre farm, she essentially never threw anything away. “You never know when you might need it” was a recurring refrain. Her basement, attic, barns, and old chicken houses are filled with relics from her past. 

Savanna never got to travel much in her younger years, but as she grew older, she developed a love of visiting new places, including California, Colorado, the Canadian Rockies, Florida, and the Pacific Northwest. 

In her latter years, Savanna suffered numerous health challenges, including a stroke at age 79, a broken hip, a broken arm, and Covid. But each time, she defied predictions and bounced back. “I’m a country girl,” she once explained. “I HAD to be tough”. She never complained or felt sorry for herself. She kept a sweet smile on her face and love in her heart. 

As she grew older and gradually lost her vision, she was assisted over the years by a wonderful group of caregivers – most recently Darlyn Rivers, DeeDee MacDonald, Hannah Todd, Laverne Ijames, Michelle White, Paige Hollar, Shequite Robinson, and Tina Thomas – all of whom adored her. Her sons visited regularly. 

Though she outlived most of her peers, Savanna is survived by her two sons. Dale, a retired attorney, lives in Raleigh. Keith (Eggy Fisher), a retired journalist, lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She is also survived by numerous other beloved relatives, including her two favorite nieces from her side of the family, Annette Sullivan and Agnes Brown, who were with her till the end and in fact provided her funeral dress. They were the daughters she never had.

Not to be forgotten is her longtime loyal companion, Buddy the cat, who accompanied her for long hours in the garden and later hitched rides on her walker. 

Her equally hardworking and dedicated husband of 62 years, Gurney, passed away in 2013. Her father died in 1981, her mother in 1986. Perhaps her favorite caregiver, Tangie Enoch, passed on in 2022. 

Savanna had a good, long run. She will be missed by all who knew her. They sure don’t make them like her anymore. May she rest in peace.

A Funeral Service for Savanna will be held on Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 4:00 PM in the Gentry Family Chapel of Yadkinville with Rev. Rick Clayton officiating. The family will receive friends prior to the service from 2:00 – 4:00 PM. Burial will follow at Huntsville Baptist Church.

If you wish to send your condolences to the family, they can be sent via mail to 3600 Courtney-Huntsville Rd, Yadkinville NC, 27055. 

Gentry Family Funeral Service of Yadkinville is serving the Hollar family.