JOHN LOUIS DOLAN, of Cordova, formerly of Germantown and Memphis, died Friday,
August 10, 2007, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, following a lengthy illness. He was 87.
Dolan was born in Memphis on August 14, 1919, the only child of Louis Arthur Dolan and
Princess Ellen Winters Dolan, both of whom predeceased. He graduated from St. Thomas Catholic Grade School and Catholic High School. After graduation, he was employed at Thompson Bros. Mortuary for three years prior to enlisting in the army, six weeks before Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the Ninth Infantry Division, which unit became known as The Old Reliables and Hitler's Nemesis. In the course of his service, Dolan made three D-Day invasions, North Africa at Algiers, Sicily at Licata, and Normandy at Utah Beach. He engaged the German armies in eight major combat campaigns, Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe, and was awarded The Bronze Star for Valor, along with other campaign medals. Upon his return to the United States, he was employed at Thompson Bros. Mortuary and then at National Funeral Home, now Memphis Funeral Home. He continued in service to that organization for 56 years, and held funeral director's and mortician's licenses for nearly 70 years. He was a member and past-president of the East Memphis Lions Club, and a founding board member and past-president of the Mid South Eye Bank, his efforts being central to the development of facilities, personnel, and tissue availability necessary for the provision of the superior level of corneal transplant surgery which presently exists in Memphis. He participated in a number of civic and political organizations, and in the 1970's and 1980's, worked with Tennessee State Representative Pam Gaia in the development and implementation of legislation which brought about much-needed reform to the standards for patient care in nursing homes. Dolan was predeceased by his parents, his first wife, Emma Marie Corbett Dolan, and two grandchildren, Baby Girl Turner and Travis Nathaniel Turner. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Doris Brigance Turner Dolan, a daughter, Jeanne Marie Dolan Pratt (Dwayne) of Yalobusha County, Mississippi, and four sons, John L. Dolan, Jr., David A. Dolan (Julie) of Sikeston, Missouri, and Curtis Jerre Turner (Carol) and Thomas Craig Turner (Rhonda), both of Bartlett. He is also survived by fourteen grandchildren, Jennifer, Lee, Drew, Kayla, Josh, Win, Claire, Dalton, Anna-Faith, Landon, Curt, Eric, Erin, and Elise, and two great-grandchildren, Mitchell and Mary. He was a life-long Catholic. More than anything, he was the finest, most loving, and most gentle of fathers, a loving and beloved husband and friend, and the greatest of grandfathers. Missed by all, but waiting just up ahead.
August 10, 2007, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, following a lengthy illness. He was 87.
Dolan was born in Memphis on August 14, 1919, the only child of Louis Arthur Dolan and
Princess Ellen Winters Dolan, both of whom predeceased. He graduated from St. Thomas Catholic Grade School and Catholic High School. After graduation, he was employed at Thompson Bros. Mortuary for three years prior to enlisting in the army, six weeks before Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the Ninth Infantry Division, which unit became known as The Old Reliables and Hitler's Nemesis. In the course of his service, Dolan made three D-Day invasions, North Africa at Algiers, Sicily at Licata, and Normandy at Utah Beach. He engaged the German armies in eight major combat campaigns, Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe, and was awarded The Bronze Star for Valor, along with other campaign medals. Upon his return to the United States, he was employed at Thompson Bros. Mortuary and then at National Funeral Home, now Memphis Funeral Home. He continued in service to that organization for 56 years, and held funeral director's and mortician's licenses for nearly 70 years. He was a member and past-president of the East Memphis Lions Club, and a founding board member and past-president of the Mid South Eye Bank, his efforts being central to the development of facilities, personnel, and tissue availability necessary for the provision of the superior level of corneal transplant surgery which presently exists in Memphis. He participated in a number of civic and political organizations, and in the 1970's and 1980's, worked with Tennessee State Representative Pam Gaia in the development and implementation of legislation which brought about much-needed reform to the standards for patient care in nursing homes. Dolan was predeceased by his parents, his first wife, Emma Marie Corbett Dolan, and two grandchildren, Baby Girl Turner and Travis Nathaniel Turner. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Doris Brigance Turner Dolan, a daughter, Jeanne Marie Dolan Pratt (Dwayne) of Yalobusha County, Mississippi, and four sons, John L. Dolan, Jr., David A. Dolan (Julie) of Sikeston, Missouri, and Curtis Jerre Turner (Carol) and Thomas Craig Turner (Rhonda), both of Bartlett. He is also survived by fourteen grandchildren, Jennifer, Lee, Drew, Kayla, Josh, Win, Claire, Dalton, Anna-Faith, Landon, Curt, Eric, Erin, and Elise, and two great-grandchildren, Mitchell and Mary. He was a life-long Catholic. More than anything, he was the finest, most loving, and most gentle of fathers, a loving and beloved husband and friend, and the greatest of grandfathers. Missed by all, but waiting just up ahead.
JOHN LOUIS DOLAN, of Cordova, formerly of Germantown and Memphis, died Friday,
August 10, 2007, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, following a lengthy illness. He was 87.
Dolan was born in Memphis on August 14, 1919, the only child of Louis Arthur Dolan and
Princess Ellen Winters Dolan, both of whom predeceased. He graduated from St. Thomas Catholic Grade School and Catholic High School. After graduation, he was employed at Thompson Bros. Mortuary for three years prior to enlisting in the army, six weeks before Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the Ninth Infantry Division, which unit became known as The Old Reliables and Hitler's Nemesis. In the course of his service, Dolan made three D-Day invasions, North Africa at Algiers, Sicily at Licata, and Normandy at Utah Beach. He engaged the German armies in eight major combat campaigns, Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe, and was awarded The Bronze Star for Valor, along with other campaign medals. Upon his return to the United States, he was employed at Thompson Bros. Mortuary and then at National Funeral Home, now Memphis Funeral Home. He continued in service to that organization for 56 years, and held funeral director's and mortician's licenses for nearly 70 years. He was a member and past-president of the East Memphis Lions Club, and a founding board member and past-president of the Mid South Eye Bank, his efforts being central to the development of facilities, personnel, and tissue availability necessary for the provision of the superior level of corneal transplant surgery which presently exists in Memphis. He participated in a number of civic and political organizations, and in the 1970's and 1980's, worked with Tennessee State Representative Pam Gaia in the development and implementation of legislation which brought about much-needed reform to the standards for patient care in nursing homes. Dolan was predeceased by his parents, his first wife, Emma Marie Corbett Dolan, and two grandchildren, Baby Girl Turner and Travis Nathaniel Turner. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Doris Brigance Turner Dolan, a daughter, Jeanne Marie Dolan Pratt (Dwayne) of Yalobusha County, Mississippi, and four sons, John L. Dolan, Jr., David A. Dolan (Julie) of Sikeston, Missouri, and Curtis Jerre Turner (Carol) and Thomas Craig Turner (Rhonda), both of Bartlett. He is also survived by fourteen grandchildren, Jennifer, Lee, Drew, Kayla, Josh, Win, Claire, Dalton, Anna-Faith, Landon, Curt, Eric, Erin, and Elise, and two great-grandchildren, Mitchell and Mary. He was a life-long Catholic. More than anything, he was the finest, most loving, and most gentle of fathers, a loving and beloved husband and friend, and the greatest of grandfathers. Missed by all, but waiting just up ahead.
August 10, 2007, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, following a lengthy illness. He was 87.
Dolan was born in Memphis on August 14, 1919, the only child of Louis Arthur Dolan and
Princess Ellen Winters Dolan, both of whom predeceased. He graduated from St. Thomas Catholic Grade School and Catholic High School. After graduation, he was employed at Thompson Bros. Mortuary for three years prior to enlisting in the army, six weeks before Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to the Ninth Infantry Division, which unit became known as The Old Reliables and Hitler's Nemesis. In the course of his service, Dolan made three D-Day invasions, North Africa at Algiers, Sicily at Licata, and Normandy at Utah Beach. He engaged the German armies in eight major combat campaigns, Algeria, Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe, and was awarded The Bronze Star for Valor, along with other campaign medals. Upon his return to the United States, he was employed at Thompson Bros. Mortuary and then at National Funeral Home, now Memphis Funeral Home. He continued in service to that organization for 56 years, and held funeral director's and mortician's licenses for nearly 70 years. He was a member and past-president of the East Memphis Lions Club, and a founding board member and past-president of the Mid South Eye Bank, his efforts being central to the development of facilities, personnel, and tissue availability necessary for the provision of the superior level of corneal transplant surgery which presently exists in Memphis. He participated in a number of civic and political organizations, and in the 1970's and 1980's, worked with Tennessee State Representative Pam Gaia in the development and implementation of legislation which brought about much-needed reform to the standards for patient care in nursing homes. Dolan was predeceased by his parents, his first wife, Emma Marie Corbett Dolan, and two grandchildren, Baby Girl Turner and Travis Nathaniel Turner. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Doris Brigance Turner Dolan, a daughter, Jeanne Marie Dolan Pratt (Dwayne) of Yalobusha County, Mississippi, and four sons, John L. Dolan, Jr., David A. Dolan (Julie) of Sikeston, Missouri, and Curtis Jerre Turner (Carol) and Thomas Craig Turner (Rhonda), both of Bartlett. He is also survived by fourteen grandchildren, Jennifer, Lee, Drew, Kayla, Josh, Win, Claire, Dalton, Anna-Faith, Landon, Curt, Eric, Erin, and Elise, and two great-grandchildren, Mitchell and Mary. He was a life-long Catholic. More than anything, he was the finest, most loving, and most gentle of fathers, a loving and beloved husband and friend, and the greatest of grandfathers. Missed by all, but waiting just up ahead.
