Hollis was born in 1898 in Kansas City, Kansas, to Thomas Gideon McMinds and Sarah Ellen Taylor. He's the 6th child of 7 who survived to adulthood. He worked mostly in saw mills, and picked crops in the summer. He was short & tough. Was proud he could kick as high as his head. He married Rose Ella Mattix in his early 20s. They had 8 children, 6 grew to adults. Lived in the Portland Oregon area. They divorced sometime after 1932. He had a 3 month marriage later. Then married his long time love, Millie Dempsey. My favorite memory of him was when I was about 10 yrs old. He took me out to his garden, pulled a turnip, washed it off, and we sat on the porch munching and talking. Turnips never tasted so good!
Coming out of the Great Depression, the world faced another challenge in the 1940's: World War II. Although the war began in the 1930's, it expanded and gained in ferocity (and atrocities) in the 194...