Tony Alan Hollifield

Tony Alan Hollifield, 49, died from heart failure after battling an extended illness at his home in San Francisco on December 2, 2021. Tony was preceded in death by his father, Jerry Hollifield; his paternal grandparents Curtis and Virginia Dickerson; his maternal grandparents, Conley Manning; Laura Dawson Manning; and his partner of 18 years, Debra McClinton.

He leaves behind his beautiful daughter, Katarina “Frankie” Ray Hollifield; his mother and step-father, Elaine and James Kuykendall of San Antonio, Texas; many aunts, uncles, cousins; and numerous friends and colleagues who loved him dearly and will feel his absence daily.

Born on June 21, 1972, and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, he attended A.C. Reynolds High School, University of North Carolina at Asheville, and North Carolina State before settling in California in 1990. Tony came to architecture by way of physics, engineering, music, and philosophy. He enjoyed the complexity of healthcare design, especially the rigorous protocol of hospital construction in California. He knew how things went together and, in the most respectful way, corrected and guided others towards his standard of excellence. He was a natural teacher to younger team members, and he took the time to teach beyond just the teachable moments. The early years of his career included renovations for many healthcare systems, including Kaiser and Marin General Hospital, with the majority of his work focused on Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Stanford Hospital. The highlight of his career was his leading role in constructing the $2 billion 824,000 square foot New Stanford Hospital. Tony left an indelible mark with his contribution to spaces designed to help ease the pain of those suffering, incapacitated, or healing.

Tony was high-spirited, ever-eager to learn, travel, explore ideas and willing to find the humor and love in every day. Tony was always ready to answer the call to help. He pursued many interests: he was an accomplished violinist, loved books and philosophy, and talked for hours about ideas. Tony bravely traveled the world: bike packed across Europe and China, later Croatia with Frankie. He had an ever-expanding list of places he wanted to experience. Yet, Tony always dedicated his energy to his local communities. His mother recalled how he gave a boy on the school bus his winter jacket at age eight. As an adult, he reached out to struggling community members and mentored them in English, reading skills, music, and chess. Tony was generous of spirit and will always be remembered as someone willing to help.

As a boy, Tony tried several sports, but once he found skateboards and bikes, his love for wheeled speed took hold. He quickly expanded his interests to include motorcycles and cars. His collection of wheels is evidence of numerous epic adventures. He fused two 66 Mustangs into one and drove across country from North Carolina to his chosen home state of California. But he kept his roots alive through his love of Nascar and would talk to James on Sunday race days. His beloved1965 Ford Falcon “Red Wagon” was large, loud, fast. Tony and Frankie restored his signature ride until it purred like a kitten and revved like a beast. Tony found delight in the many problems presented by his wheeled hobbies and spent hours tinkering and fixing. Friends and family share numerous memories of Tony in his shop. He loved old cars, new cars, bikes, boards and he moved fluidly within all the wheeled mediums. Tony was always seeking the edge of what is possible and insisted his loved ones join him on the adventure.

While Tony worked, created and sought he was always, first and foremost, a dedicated father to the love of his life, his daughter, Frankie Ray. Frankie embodies the sparkle of her mother Deb and the strength and spirit of her father. Tony didn’t leave a hole that couldn’t be filled. Instead, he expanded the universe for us to continue on our journeys, to be intrepid in his spirit. His loved ones are honored to be a part of his legends and continue to be inspired by a titan of a father, friend, partner, and son.

Due to the holidays and the far and wide reach of Tony’s friends and family community services will be held in the new year.