The skeet world and NSSA lost a great friend and supporter when Hollis Boss died at age 99 on July 14, 2024.
Hollis was a WWII Navy veteran, a businessman and career insurance man, skeet shooter, lifelong outdoorsman, and big game hunter who lived a very full life. He was a dedicated supporter of the game of skeet and the NSSA for over 60 years, and he remained interested in what was going on at the association even until his final days.
Hollis began his involvement with skeet in the late 1950s where he lived just outside of Buffalo, NY. By 1958, he was shooting registered tournaments, refereeing and working on shoot administration in New York State. During the ’60s, Hollis continued to become more involved in NSSA, representing New York State in Zone 1 at the time his friend and shooting buddy, Arch MacIntryre, was the Zone 1 Executive Committeeman. Meeting and working more closely with Past Presidents Alex Kerr and Chet Crites, Hollis decided he wanted to be a positive influence on the future of the organization, and he began to get more involved nationally.
At this time, NSSA was administered out of rented office space in Dallas, and the National Championships were rotated every year to a few different clubs which were large enough to hold the week-long event. In 1962, Hollis traveled north to shoot the World Championships (then called the “Nationals”) at the Montreal Skeet Club in San Janvier, Quebec, the first and only time that shoot was held outside the U.S. This experience drove him to become instrumental in the expansion of the Rochester-Brooks Gun Club at a new location in Rush, NY, which built 24 skeet fields for the NSSA Nationals that were held there in 1963, 1966, 1969 and 1972.
In 1969, then-President Ray Boller died unexpectedly. Arch MacIntyre became NSSA President, and Hollis stepped up to take the Zone 1 seat on the NSSA Executive Committee. The next five years, when Hollis was most heavily involved on the Executive Committee and as an Officer of NSSA, were years that significantly shaped the future of the NSSA. Discussions were ongoing by the EC as to the future of the organization and the need to have a home grounds large enough to host the NSSA National Championships. At that time, there were continual difficulties finding clubs large enough to hold a growing event and negotiating with clubs to hold the Nationals while keeping costs in check. Having an association property in a central location would solve that problem for all future years.
In 1970, Hollis and Chet Crites, Past President and then Zone 3 EC member, were asked to search for a suitable parcel of land. They did, discovering the Texas International Gun Club (TIGC) which had been built in the mid-1960s outside of the city of San Antonio. In January, 1971, the EC began discussing a partnership proposal from TIGC to purchase 217 acres adjoining the TIGC upon which the TIGC would build 20 skeet fields. These 20 fields, in addition to the 12 fields at TIGC (at today’s Vendor Row), were used to hold the 1971 Nationals at San Antonio in July.
In 1972, when Ken Pletcher was NSSA President and Hollis was Vice President, the TIGC proposed to sell their club and all of their land to NSSA. In 1973, the EC approved the purchase of the TIGC, and the headquarters operation relocated from Dallas to the facility which became known as the National Gun Club. In 1974, Hollis succeeded Gen. Pletcher as NSSA President for his term from 1974-1976.
After completing his service as an NSSA Officer, Hollis continued actively supporting Zone 1. He was also successful in winning the New York State 12-Gauge Open Championship at the 1981 State Shoot at Lewiston, NY, after a lengthy shoot-off of 100 straights. He was coach and manager of the U.S. A. Shooting Team for International Skeet and Trap in 1981. He eventually went on to take nine trips to Africa to hunt big game and to enjoy several hunting and photo safaris with his children and grandchildren. To say that he kept busy all of his years and had seen the world would be an understatement!
In 1991, Michael Hampton, Sr., then-NSSA Executive Director, called upon Hollis for help to find liability insurance coverage for NSSA members and member gun clubs. From that one phone call, the Sportsmen’s Insurance Agency, Inc. (SIAI) eventually evolved, and Hollis found himself out of retirement and back in the insurance business. Today, 30+ years later, SIAI has been providing continuous, comprehensive insurance coverage at discounted rates to our members, certified instructors, and member clubs. Suffice to say, the alliance between NSSA-NSCA and SIAI has been a very important one to our organization, and Hollis’ solution has become one of our most sought-after member benefits. Even after his retirement from the day-to-day business at SIAI, Hollis remained interested for years, keeping his finger on the pulse. Many of his longtime, very qualified and supportive staff remain in place today, providing a successful, continuing relationship between the association and SIAI well into the future.
Hollis was pre-deceased by his wife Jean, daughter Sheila, stepson Bruce, and grandson Kevin. He is survived by his daughters, Lonnie, Joan Patricia, and Roxanne (Arthur), and stepdaughters, Kathie (James), and Gerri Ann, and sons, Hollis (aka Chip), and Richard (aka Buddy)(Deborah), as well as his 14 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
RIP, Hollis!
– Contributed by Louise Terry
