Obituary for Robert M. Hollis
On December 29, 2021 Robert Morris Hollis died at Morgan Health Center in Johnston, RI. With him when he died was his brother, Steve who had flown east from Colorado to spend Christmas with Rob in the nursing home as much as possible. Rob had been in nursing homes since suffering a stroke in 2014 that took away his ability to speak, walk, or eat.
Rob was born in Worcester, Ma. on March 29, 1955, the youngest of five, with two older sisters, Jan and Kim, and two older brothers, Jamie and Steve. The family moved to Providence, RI four years later and Rob went to Moses Brown School for his elementary school years and Tabor Academy for high school. He was an outstanding three sport varsity athlete in soccer, hockey and lacrosse. Rob was a true “jock” in the best sense of the word. His enthusiasm and positive nature made others gravitate toward him. And he was a fun loving individual that brought smiles to all his family and friends. On the field, Rob’s teammates respected his ability to know that a team which works together will always succeed. Rob was an exceptional athlete, but in lacrosse his star ability was most impressive. Many of his peers say that Rob Hollis was one of the best lacrosse players in the country, and in 1972, he earned the title of Lacrosse All-American.
After Tabor, Rob played lacrosse at University of North Carolina where, as a freshman, he started on both college Division One lacrosse and soccer teams. Rob went on to coach high school soccer, hockey and lacrosse teams at several New England schools, including Noble and Greenough, Moses Brown and Providence Country Day. In 1983, he took over the Mini Lacrosse program for Providence Youth Lacrosse as head coach and director. Rob worked with multiple organizations, at many different levels, as both a coach and administrator in the sport of lacrosse. Through his drive, warm personality, commitment to good coaching and love of the game, Rob built a wide network throughout the country for developing lacrosse talent and, in the process, forged many lifelong friendships. Many college lacrosse coaches would call and consult with Rob about the capabilities of high school lacrosse players that Rob coached or observed.
Rob was a camper and counselor at Camp Timanous in Raymond, ME in the 60’s and 70’s. In Rob's last summer as a camper, he was voted Best All Round Athlete as well as Best Sport on the annual summer Hall of Fame. Rob was also voted into the Voyagers Club, a camper run organization that recognized the most highly regarded and respected camper leaders in camp, a rare and prestigious honor given by one's peers. As a counselor at Timanous, Rob was a veritable Pied Piper, consistently trailed around camp by an unfailingly large group of campers surrounding him. He truly loved the Camp and his friends from there.
Rob had a wonderful sensitive and intelligent personality and his enthusiasm for living and having fun was contagious. People were drawn to him and he had a legion of loyal friends throughout his life. Rob was much known and loved by his extended family of many nieces, nephews, and cousins. All of us will miss his mischievous smile, his machine gun laugh, his wolf-like calls of celebration and his positive energy a great deal.
He was a very loyal and passionate friend and family member and we all recognized him for that. His family plans on hosting a memorial service for Rob in the early summer. In lieu of flowers please consider donations to the Timanous Foundation, Camp Timanous, PO Box 2886, South Portland, ME 04116 or timanous.org/donate.html
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Rob was born in Worcester, Ma. on March 29, 1955, the youngest of five, with two older sisters, Jan and Kim, and two older brothers, Jamie and Steve. The family moved to Providence, RI four years later and Rob went to Moses Brown School for his elementary school years and Tabor Academy for high school. He was an outstanding three sport varsity athlete in soccer, hockey and lacrosse. Rob was a true “jock” in the best sense of the word. His enthusiasm and positive nature made others gravitate toward him. And he was a fun loving individual that brought smiles to all his family and friends. On the field, Rob’s teammates respected his ability to know that a team which works together will always succeed. Rob was an exceptional athlete, but in lacrosse his star ability was most impressive. Many of his peers say that Rob Hollis was one of the best lacrosse players in the country, and in 1972, he earned the title of Lacrosse All-American.
After Tabor, Rob played lacrosse at University of North Carolina where, as a freshman, he started on both college Division One lacrosse and soccer teams. Rob went on to coach high school soccer, hockey and lacrosse teams at several New England schools, including Noble and Greenough, Moses Brown and Providence Country Day. In 1983, he took over the Mini Lacrosse program for Providence Youth Lacrosse as head coach and director. Rob worked with multiple organizations, at many different levels, as both a coach and administrator in the sport of lacrosse. Through his drive, warm personality, commitment to good coaching and love of the game, Rob built a wide network throughout the country for developing lacrosse talent and, in the process, forged many lifelong friendships. Many college lacrosse coaches would call and consult with Rob about the capabilities of high school lacrosse players that Rob coached or observed.
Rob was a camper and counselor at Camp Timanous in Raymond, ME in the 60’s and 70’s. In Rob's last summer as a camper, he was voted Best All Round Athlete as well as Best Sport on the annual summer Hall of Fame. Rob was also voted into the Voyagers Club, a camper run organization that recognized the most highly regarded and respected camper leaders in camp, a rare and prestigious honor given by one's peers. As a counselor at Timanous, Rob was a veritable Pied Piper, consistently trailed around camp by an unfailingly large group of campers surrounding him. He truly loved the Camp and his friends from there.
Rob had a wonderful sensitive and intelligent personality and his enthusiasm for living and having fun was contagious. People were drawn to him and he had a legion of loyal friends throughout his life. Rob was much known and loved by his extended family of many nieces, nephews, and cousins. All of us will miss his mischievous smile, his machine gun laugh, his wolf-like calls of celebration and his positive energy a great deal.
He was a very loyal and passionate friend and family member and we all recognized him for that. His family plans on hosting a memorial service for Rob in the early summer. In lieu of flowers please consider donations to the Timanous Foundation, Camp Timanous, PO Box 2886, South Portland, ME 04116 or timanous.org/donate.html
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