Tenor William Holley passed away on Dec. 28, 2019 at age 89.

Born in Bristol, Florida in 1930, he did his initial studies at the Stetson University where he received a Bachelor of Music degree.

He would then serve in the U.S. Army between 1955-56 and was honorably discharged before he joined the music faculty at the Oklahoma Baptist University. From there, he joined the Indiana University School of Music where he expanded his repertory, singing 12 opera roles over the course of four years. He also engaged in teaching voice lessons as a graduate assistant on his way to earning his Masters of Music in Vocal Performance.

Then he headed to Europe where he would perform at a number of opera companies across Austria and Germany before settling into a position at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein. Among the many cities where he performed were Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Vienna.

He retired in 1984 and would return to his home state of Florida.