The Day Dale Holloway Sang Jingle Bells at a Funeral

A Story in a North American Missions Agency Series

The Day Dale Holloway Sang Jingle Bells at a Funeral

By George Bullard

Dale Holloway was a wonderful person. I loved having him as a colleague in the Associational Missions Division of the former Home Mission Board, SBC. He always had a story. A funny one. Some were even true.

Dale served as a national consultant for Bivocational Ministry. Some people these days call this Covocational Ministry. But in my mind, they are somewhat different roles.

A bivocational minister has a second job to have enough money to support their family. A covocational minister intentionally chooses a marketplace job as a ministry expansion of what they are doing in a less than full-time church role.

Dale’s stories always made us laugh. Many days his humor cut through the tension of complex ministry.

Almost all his stories were “clean” – if you know what I mean. Here is one example.

A Dale Holloway Story

One of Dale’s stories concerned a request to sing at a friend’s funeral.

Long-term friend, Henry, died. His widow, Maude, called Dale to say that Henry had always wanted Dale to sing of his funeral. This was not an unusual request. Dale was a good singer. He would at times sing as part of his sermons or other presentations.

“Maude, I would love to sing at Henry’s funeral. Both of you have been such dear friends to me. It would be a pleasure. Do you know what Henry wanted me to sing?”

“Yes. He wanted you to sing at the graveside following the funeral. As they are lowering the casket into the ground, he would like for you to sing both verses of ‘Jingle Bells.’”

“Now, Maude, that seems like an unusual request. Are you sure it was ‘Jingle Bells’ and not something else?”

“Oh yes. I am positive. Henry mentioned it many times over the years.”

“Okay. I would certainly want to honor his request. I will do it.

The Funeral

On the day of the funeral, following the church service, the family and friends journeyed to the cemetery.

The family was seated under the funeral home tent facing the casket. The pastor read some scripture, shared a few words of comfort, and then offered a prayer of committal for Henry.

Then the cemetery workers came forward as was the tradition in that community and began the process of lowering the casket into the ground.

Dale stood to the side of the casket and began singing. “Dashing through the snow . . .”

When he had finished singing both verses of “Jingle Bells”, and the casket had been lowered into the ground, the pastor followed by Dale began going down the front row offering words of comfort to Maude and her family.

When Dale got to Maude, from her seat she reached up and pulled him down to her face crying and saying, “Dale, I am so sorry about the song. Asking you to sing ‘Jingle Bells’”.

“Maude don’t be. I am not. I was pleased to follow Henry’s wishes.”

“No, Dale, you do not understand. It was not ‘Jingle Bells’. It was ‘When They Ring Those Golden Bells’.”

Get to Know and Celebrate the Eternal Life of Dale Holloway

Dale was a very real person. This story – not so much. Get to know more about who he was by reading his obituary. He died in November 2020.