A Celebration of Life for Dr. William P. Jolly will take place at 10:00 AM on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at the First Presbyterian Church in Lawton, Oklahoma.

The family will welcome friends at a visitation on Friday, February 21, 2025 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home in Lawton.

Bill will be laid to rest beside his beloved wife, Ruth Winland Jolly, at Highland Cemetery in Lawton.

Burial will be under the direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home

Dr. William Prothro Jolly, 101, was born June 9, 1923, in Haileyville, Oklahoma, to Edward Raynaud Jolly and Willie Prothro Jolly.  He peacefully passed away on February 14, 2025, at his home in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Dr. William Jolly was a loving father, a hero to many, a healer, and a man whose kindness knew no bounds. As a dedicated physician, he spent his life caring for others, offering comfort, hope, and healing to everyone he met. He never spoke a negative word, always choosing compassion and understanding. His wisdom was a guiding light, his heart was endlessly generous, and his presence brought warmth and reassurance to all. Though he is no longer with us, his legacy of love, selflessness, and service will live on in the countless lives he touched. Bill's life was defined by love, love for his wife, who was his heart and soul, love for his family, and love for the practice of medicine, which was his calling. As a physician, he dedicated himself to healing, comforting, and serving others with compassion and unwavering commitment. His patients were never just cases; they were people he cared for deeply, each one a life he sought to better. Medicine was not just his profession, but his purpose, a reflection of his boundless kindness and devotion to humanity. His hands mended, his wisdom guided, and his heart gave without hesitation. Though he has left this world, the lives he touched and the kindness he shared will forever remain his legacy.

A proud graduate of McAlester High School in 1941, Bill enrolled at the University of Oklahoma in September 1941, where he pledged the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Bill joined the Army Specialized Training Program. He remained at OU until called into active service in April 1943 and was inducted into the US Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After completing basic training at Camp Maxey, Texas, Bill continued his college education at Ohio State University and served as a ward boy at Vaughn General Hospital in Maywood, Illinois. In 1945, he was sent to the University of Michigan for medical school by the Army. As World War II was winding down, Bill was discharged from the military.

After World War II ended, Bill completed his MD degree in 1949, graduating Cum Laude.  He undertook an internship at Cincinnati General Hospital from 1949 to 1950. In November 1950, he married his beautiful wife, Ruth. She was his greatest love and brought him his deepest joy. When she left this world before him, he stated his only regret in life was that he couldn't be with his wife, Ruth, a bit longer.

Bill began a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa hospital in 1950. In 1952, he was called back into the US Army and served as a battalion surgeon in Korea from 1953 to 1954. Upon returning, he established his medical practice in Lawton, Oklahoma, in 1956. Bill was the first physician in Comanche County to be certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He served as Chief of Staff at Comanche County Memorial Hospital in 1963 and was a dedicated member of the medical staff at both Comanche County Memorial Hospital and Southwestern Medical Center. Bill retired from his practice on December 31, 1993.

In his retirement, Bill became deeply involved in civic life, contributing to several organizations, including the McMahon Auditorium Authority, the Center for Creative Living Board of Directors, the Memorial Hospital Foundation Board, and the Lawton Community Health Center Board. He was also a member of the Comanche, Cotton, and Tillman Medical Societies, the Oklahoma Medical Society, and the American College of Physicians. Bill was a long-time elder at First Presbyterian Church of Lawton and was honored with the Roma Clift Montgomery Citizen of the Humanities Award by the Lawton Arts and Humanities Council in 2015.

Bill is survived by his five children: Paul Winland Jolly, and his wife Marilyn, of Dallas, Texas, David William Jolly and his wife Laura, of Ames, Iowa, daughter Pamela Ann Preston, and her husband David, of Lawton, Oklahoma, son Alan Edward Jolly and his wife Joelle, of Lawton, Oklahoma, and son Christopher Sutton Jolly and his wife Kelly, of Iowa Park, Texas.  He also leaves behind his grandchildren: Katherine Jolly, Will Jolly, Johnathan Preston, Tyler Jolly, Morgan Koonce, Victoria Jolly, and Joe Jolly; his great-grandchildren: Jack and Mary Ruth Jolly, Kade and Kollyns Koonce, and Emma and Elizabeth Jolly; his nephew Edward Jolly and his nieces Linda Jolly and Debbie Swopes.

Bill is preceded in death by the love of his life, Ruth, and his brother Edward.

An online guest book and sympathy cards are available at www.beckerfuneral.com.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Center for Creative Living at 3501 Elsie Hamm Drive, Lawton, OK 73505, or First Presbyterian Church, 1302 SW A Avenue, Lawton, OK 73501.