Erma D. Holloway

On October 14, 2025, Erma Dolores Holloway, our beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin and friend transitioned to her eternal rest at 92 years young.  She made her earthly debut on February 12, 1933 in Ashton, South Carolina. She was the seventh of twelve siblings gifted by God to Joe and Jerusha Murdaugh.

She was a 1951 graduate of Ruffin High School in Ruffin, South Carolina and attended Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina.She was a proud member of the National Council of Negro Women and the Association of Black Educators of New York. She met and married the love of her life Ronald Holloway. They were happily married for over 50 years until his passing in 2002. After 25 years of faithful service, Erma retired from the New York City Board of Education, Office of School Food and Nutrition Services in 1993.

Erma loved to garden and was a voracious reader. You could catch her watching Fox News and weighing in on politics whether you wanted to hear it or not. Most of all, she loved her family. She adored all eleven of her siblings Adrene Lingard, Joe Floyd Murdaugh, Ernest Murdaugh, Harold H. Murdaugh, Theodore Murdaugh, Sarah P. Drone, Daisy V. Clarke, Charles W. Murdaugh, Dorothy C.  Seymore, Learlene Murdaugh and Mellouise Murdaugh.

She leaves a rich legacy in her son, Athens Holloway (Delceno); three grandchildren, Athens Holloway, Jr. (Jennifer), Robert Holloway (Chante Harris) and Sarah Holloway, M.D.; eight great-grandchildren, Athens Holloway III (Liannette), Sean Holloway, Jada Holloway, David Holloway, Jeremiah Harris, Alyssa Brown, Jaiden Holloway, Jamir Holloway, and one great-great grandson, Athens Holloway IV.  Her four sisters, Daisy V. Clarke (Donald), Dorothy C. Seymore, Learlene Murdaugh, Mellouise Murdaugh and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

She will be sorely missed, but we will honor her memory by continuing to love one another as family and maintaining a strong work ethic and integrity in all that we do. Erma lived a life well lived and well loved.