Tom Dees, after he had been promoted to Manager of Holiday Island Recreation and Retirement Community, asked me to go to lunch with him and Charles Hurwitz, who had bought a controlling interest in Holiday Island in 1980.
Shortly after that time, in 1985, when there was quite a bit of turmoil there, Tom asked me if I would build a bank out there on vacant land of our choice, and he would sell me the property for $1.
I told him I would talk to our directors, and they were very enthusiastic at being the first bank there. When our bank was dedicated at 2 Stateline Drive, not towing in a mobile home, but building a nice permanent structure by contractor Wayne Johnson, with drive up windows, etc., the lawsuits went away and things calmed down considerably.
We made the first Commercial loan on the Island Motel and have literally built dozens and dozens of houses all over the 5,000 acres that consisted of 4,500 lots.
Mr. Hurwitz, after purchasing Holiday Island, changed the corporate name to MCO Holdings, and hired Tom Dees to manage it. On January 19, 1990, Dees bought the unsold assets of Holiday Island from Mr. Hurwitz for $10,000,000 thinking his offer would be turned down, but he was told, “Congratulations, Tom, you are the new owner of Holiday of Island.” Tom said he went home and told his wife, Kathy, that they were the new owners of Holiday Island, and that he had just bought it. She asked what he used to buy it with, and Tom just replied, “credit,” which turned out to be the 3 banks in Carroll County.
When we built our Bank at Stateline Drive in 1985, there was nothing but woods on the east side of Holiday Island, and it’s what Tom bought personally. That’s when he started building a town there. He built many structures, including a U. S. Post Office, hardware store, grocery store, and Fred’s, and in the last year or so, the property of Holiday Island was incorporated. It is now a bigger town than Eureka Springs. He was proud of the fact that he never put his name on anything out there, but in his later years he built the Tom and Kathy Dees Veterans Memorial Park.
Tom dearly loved his wife, Kathy Dees, his daughters Michelle Dees and Angela Brenneman (formerly Dees), and his five grandchildren. (When I asked him who cuts his hair, he said his wife cuts it.)
In my second “Profile” in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat/Gazette, Tom was quoted as saying the following: “John’s got a good eye for investments and sees potential where others don’t, says Tom Dees, Developer of Holiday Island Recreation and Development Community. The Bank of Eureka Springs was supportive in helping me acquire the funds for Holiday Island, which we built from scratch. John was here, he’s been with me the whole time.”
Tom Dees was a one-man Chamber of Commerce for a long time, and he did it well. But later, Tom and his wife, Kathy, were honored by the Holiday Island Chamber, represented by Sheila Wolf, who presented them with a crystal plaque recognizing their service to the community.
Tom said that one day he was flying back home from Palm Springs, and Donna Douglas, the actress who played Elly May Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies TV show, sat down next to him. In the course of conversation Tom told her about Holiday Island and invited her to come visit someday.
He said he never dreamed that she would really come, but not long after the meeting on the plane, Tom received a telephone call in his office. It was Donna wanting to negotiate an appearance. The details were worked out, and soon the “Donna Douglas Craft Fair” became an annual event in Holiday Island.
Sometime early this year, after not hearing from him for a while, I picked up the phone and dialed his old number, and he answered it in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I asked him how he was doing, and he said, “not too well.” I also asked him if he got a copy of our 2022 calendar “The Coming of the Railroad,” and he said he had not. I sent it and I also sent him the 2023 calendar.
He was a shareholder in this bank as a member of the Board of Directors for 5 years, at which time he retired as a director.
The last time I heard from Tom is that he signed a proxy statement on April 11, 2023, giving me authority to vote his stock at the annual Stockholders Meeting on May 23, 2023.
He was still a shareholder when he passed away on June 10, 2023.
I hope to see him again someday!!
John Fuller Cross, Chairman
Tom was a very nice man. When my family lived there, we enjoyed a good friendship. RIP, dear man.
A very nice tribute, When in ES we ride to HI for one of our runs – have enjoyed everything from fireworks , meals & yard sales all while visiting with such fun & cool people of HI.
Just to clarify… Tom built the Holiday Island Veteran’s Memorial Park several years prior to my arrival in 2015. He sold it along with the Pavillion, Amphitheatre and Playground to Donna and Brad Handley two years ago. It was the Handley’s who then dedicated and renamed the Veteran’s Park to the Tom and Kathy Dees Memorial Park as a tribute to Tom and everything he had done here. Tom was very modest. He didn’t really want the recognition. He just simply wanted the community he dreamt of to thrive.
He was my friend and one of my greatest supporters and I will miss him dearly.
Sheila R. Wolf