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Barbara Jolly, a long time Kit Carson rancher and homemaker, passed away January 11, 2024.

Barbara was born March 4, 1938, to John and Zephia Hollowell, the sixth of seven children. As a child she rode horseback to school from the family homestead. She rode bareback because her father was worried about the children getting hung up in a stirrup if the horse bolted. After graduating high school Barbara lived with her sister, Evelyn, in Colorado Springs, and worked as a dental hygienist.

When Barbara married Pat Jolly, she moved from Colorado Spring to the family ranch, where they had two children, Tony and R.J. Barbara adopted Joe and Melissa Jolly in 1999 and shepherded them from elementary school to college. In addition to Melissa and Joe, she earned a reputation as someone who helped “strays” get their feet on the ground and reach the success they were capable of.

Barbara was an active partner on the ranch, caring for bum lambs, cooking for a crew of 15, helping take care of cattle, including pairing up cattle and recovering strays from the blizzards when they hit. She would help Pat do cattle work in the morning, return to the house to fix lunch for the family, and then go back out to work with the cattle, often times till it was dark. After her husband’s untimely death in 1985, she took over the daily management of the ranch, a role she was active in for her entire life. Always well-kept and put together when she went to town, you could not tell how much hard outdoor work she did on the ranch every day.

Her Catholic faith was very important to her. It was always a guide and cornerstone in her life. As such, she was an active member of St Augustine’s Catholic Church in Kit Carson, working on the parish council and altar society.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, John and Zephia Hollowell; husband, Pat Jolly; son, Joe Jolly; granddaughter, Lydia Jolly; step-granddaughter, Madeline Hornung; brothers, Richard Hollowell and Bernard Hollowell; brother-in-law, John Bennet; sister-in-law, Patsy Hollowell; and nephew, Jim Hollowell.

She is survived by her sons, Tony Jolly and R.J. (Margaret) Jolly; daughter, Melissa Jolly; granddaughter, Emma Jolly; siblings, Josephine, Evelyn, Johnnie (Kay), and Gordon (Nancy); step grandchildren, Elizabeth (Trenton) Rico, Victoria Hornung, Cecilia (Matt) McDermott, Alexandria (Favian) Wilken, William (Cecilia) Hornung, and Peter Hornung; and numerous nieces and nephews. 

Visitation will be held January 21, 2024, from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the St. Augustine Catholic Church in Kit Carson. The Rosary will be prayed from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Funeral Mass of Resurrection will take place January 22, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Hugo.

Burial will be at the Evergreen Cemetery in Hugo.

Arrangements under the direction of Brown Funeral Home.