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Celebration of Life Set for Fred Jolley Jr.

imgonline-com-ua-FrameBlurred-VRbTElJSZoYjHwe4The Family of Fred Jolley Jr. invite family and friends to a Celebration of Life for Fred at 9AM on Saturday, July 30.

Fred Earl Jolley, Jr., 77, of Franklin passed away on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 at UPMC Hamot in Erie.

Fred was born on May 18, 1944 to the late Fred Earl, Sr. and Geraldine (Davis) Jolley, the first of 5 children.

He was the apple of his mother’s eye, and he was darn proud of that.

He graduated from Rocky Grove High School in 1963, where he met his dear friend, Vince Witherup, whose lifelong friendship meant the world to him.

He went to work at the CPT shortly after graduating.

He soon enlisted in his beloved Marine Corps in February 1965 and graduated from boot camp at MCRD, Parris Island, SC on April 20, 1965.

He completed 4 weeks of combat training at Camp Lejeune, NC on July 10, 1965.

He completed testing and screening at NATTC in Memphis, TN in August of 1965.

On September 10, 1965, Fred completed Mechanical Fundamentals training at NATTC in Memphis, TN and Aviation Mechanics School and Base Helicopter School in November 1965.

He had many stories of seeing Elvis and Priscilla and going to the gates of Graceland while in Memphis.

After training, Fred was stationed at MARTD NAS in Olathe, KS, where he was a jet engine mechanic, working on F-14’s. He completed two additional weeks of combat training in Yuma, AZ in August 1966. He was honorably discharged from the Marines in January 1969.

Fred LOVED his time in the Marine Corps, and he cherished the lifelong friendships he made while serving, especially friends Country (Gary) Shelby and E.J. (Ed) Plute.

He continued those friendships for the entirety of his life, and they meant the world to him.

He was always a proud Marine, and he told and retold stories from his time serving many, many times over the years.

Semper Fi!

On January 28, 1969, Fred married Deborah A. Berdar in Olathe, KS, and she preceded him in death on February 8, 1994, shortly after celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.

Fred moved his new bride back to Franklin, PA where he took a job at Joy Manufacturing.

In 1971, he was part of the team responsible for the construction of Justus Lake in Two Mile Run County Park.

He took a job at Conair in Franklin in 1972, where he worked until his retirement in 1995.

He traveled to several different countries such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico and England while working at Conair.

He made many friends and had many fun times and crazy stories from his time there.

On February 24, 1973, Fred and Deb welcomed the birth of their first daughter, Jessica Anne Jolley.

Shortly thereafter, they welcomed the birth of their second daughter, Andrea Naomi Cora Jolley on January 20, 1974.

Fred loved and cherished his daughters and worked hard to give them and his wife a good life.

He took at second job at Village Auto (now Short Street Motorcars) to assure that was possible.

While there, he worked for a very special lifelong friend, owner Bob (“Bean”) Fry.

After spending several years living on Henry’s Bend in Oil City, Fred moved his family back to his hometown of Polk, PA in 1977.

He was elected Mayor of Polk in 1982 and served until 1995, the same year he retired from Conair.

Shortly after, he returned to Village Auto to lend a hand any way he could, mostly as an excuse to spend time with great friends and nice cars.

In 2002, Fred moved to Bredinsburg Rd. in Oil City, where he lived the rest of his life.

Throughout his life, Fred enjoyed golfing, traveling, hunting, white water rafting and fishing, especially his yearly trips to Canada with his friends and family.

He achieved the goal of visiting every state in the country.

He loved shooting skeet and was a very proud member of the NRA and Isaac Walton Shooting Club.

When Fred made friends with someone, they were a friend for life.

He spent many days hanging out at Sonny’s Gun Shop and Short Street Motorcars, where he enjoyed telling and hearing stories and talking about hunting, fishing, guns, cars and politics.

He loved his weekly lunches with his best friends, the G-Crew, Vince Witherup, Sonny Colvin, Bill Schlorff, Jim Nash, Dick Snyder, Al Umstead, Doug Hart and Frank Pankratz.

Those guys meant the world to Fred, and he cherished the good times and memories he made with them.

Through all of his health problems, his friends were ALWAYS there for him, and that meant the world to Fred and his family.

To Fred (First Born), family meant everything.

He notably had a very close relationship with his sister, Sherry Schlorff (Last Born).

She was his best friend, and he was especially close to her, her husband, Bill, their son, Wyatt, their daughter, Danielle, and her children, Isaiah and Ezra.

They were always there for him, in good times and bad, helped him in every way possible and made sure he had everything he needed.

Fred had a very dear and special friend, whom he cared for deeply, Millie Shawl, in Hillsborough, NC.

Their relationship was especially important to him.

He spent many months staying at her North Carolina home.

Millie took very good care of Fred and made many happy memories with him that he cherished to his final day.

Fred is survived by his daughters, Jessica (Alan) Kirk of McKinney, TX and Andrea (Jerad) Knight of Cortland, OH, his grandchildren, Madison Stevens of Dallas, TX, Abigail Stevens of Anchorage, AK, and Jack Knight of Cortland, OH, his brothers, Garrett E. (Charyn Brocklehurst) Jolley of Jackson Center and Scott J. (Jodi) Jolley of Westminster, CO, his sister, Sherry (Bill) Schlorff of Oil City, his nieces and nephews, Danielle Deegan, Wyatt Schlorff, Katie Jolley, Jennifer Owens, Tom Harrington, Amy Harrington, Lori Harrington, as well as many great nieces and nephews.

In addition to his parents, Fred was preceded in death by his wife, Deborah Jolley, and his sister, Rebecca Harrington.

A Celebration of Life will take place at Old Sandy Cemetery in Polk, PA on Saturday, July 30 at
9am.

Fred’s ashes will be mixed with his wife Deb’s and will be buried in the grave sight of his
beloved parents.

For as long as anyone can remember, Fred said that he didn’t want a funeral, and he didn’t want anyone crying.

He wanted a party, and he wanted everyone to wear blue jeans, a cowboy shirt and cowboy boots.

So, if you’ve got ’em, please wear ’em.

Please bring your best, funniest and most memorable stories of Fred to share.

He wanted everyone to laugh and have fun remembering the good times everyone had together.

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