William Preston Lollis

William Preston Lollis

“Pop”

William Preston Lollis, son of Lula Matthews and Edgar Abel, passed away on Wednesday December 17, 2025, at Cape Fear Valley Hospital in Fayetteville, NC.

He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Frances Ann Sistare and 3 children, Bill (Katy) Lollis of Fayetteville NC, Barry (Vicki) Lollis of Summerfield NC and Beverly Greeson of High Point NC. He also has 5 Grandsons, William Preston Lollis, III., Pierce Lollis, Parker (Alexis) Lollis, Frankie Lollis, Luke Lollis and 1 Granddaughter, Frances (Dusty) Little.

Preston will be reuniting with his 4 older sisters, Elizabeth, Virginia, Frances, Doris and his older brother, Bub Lollis. Preston was born and raised in Greenwood, SC at the start of the Great Depression. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Army’s 187th Field Artillery Observation Battalion in Fort Sill, Oklahoma during the Korean War in 1951. After his service in the military, he returned to Greenwood, SC where he graduated from Lander College. He then married the love of his life in 1958 while pursuing the start of his career at Brown & Williamson Tobacco, which lasted nearly 37 years until he retired in 1995. After a few relocations to Geogia and Florida throughout his career, he finally ended up in Fayetteville, NC where he spent the next 50 years of his life with his family. Preston loved to laugh and was a great listener. When needed, he always had great wisdom to share. Some of his hobbies and passions included collecting antiques with Frances, gardening and sharing his harvest with his friends, meeting with friends for breakfast and laughs at Hardees, Indy car racing, attending air shows, parades and his annual Army reunion, riding his bike all over town, drinking a coke on Tuesday afternoons with his lifelong friend Ron, naps on the porch swing, fish fry’s on the back porch, playing the trumpet, listening to records on his Victrola, flying control line air planes, golfing, cheering for the Tar Heels, family reunions and beach trips, storytelling, worshipping with his Sunday School class, donating to charity, loving his wife and making memories with the family they created together.

We will be holding his celebration of life on January 3rd in the Chapel at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, NC. Visitation starts at 11:00AM and the service will start at 12:00PM.

Memorials will be made to Snyder Memorial Baptist Church 701 Westmont Dr. Fayetteville, NC 28305.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of William Preston Lollis, please visit our floral store.