John Meredith Holmes, 90

June 27, 2015

John Meredith Holmes died peacefully at Willow Valley Lakeside in Willow Street, PA on June 27. 2015, in the morning; he had just reached the age of 90. John is survived by his wife of 68 years, Shirley Elizabeth (Gibbs) Holmes currently residing in Willow Street, PA; and, his daughter, Melynda Lee Holmes wife of E. John Mohler who lives in Leesburg, VA.
John was born on June 3, 1925 to Margaret Blanche Fox and Meredith Alban Holmes in Millville, NJ. He joined the Navy at the age of 17, after graduating from Riverside High School in Burlington Township, NJ. Upon returning from service in the South Pacific (1946), John married Shirlee (her preferred spelling) and began their partnership and dance through life in May of 1947, taking up residence in her home town of Mount Holly, NJ. Five years later, he graduated from Temple University with a Master’s degree in Accounting. John began working for General Electric (GE) in 1952, commuting into Philadelphia, Valley Forge (in later years), or travelling to work sites in the US. He briefly left GE to work for General Precision, living in Verona, NJ for three years before moving to Berwyn, PA to resume working for GE. In 1971, he moved his family to Belgium where he worked for International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) as manager of purchasing and subcontracting; returning to the states in 1977 he continued working for ITT and its subsidiaries – first in New York City, then in Seattle, WA, before returning to New York in 1983. John rounded out his career as an instructor with a software development firm located near West Chester, PA; finally retiring in 1992.
John’s passion for golf began as a teenager, when he caddied at Burlington County Country Club (BCCC); he was on the golf Team for 2 years while attending Rutgers University. He was Club Champion at BCCC for 5 out of 8 years during the 1950s and 1960s; holding the course record of 64 for many years. Ironically, he did not have his first hole in one until moving to Europe, where he and his family resided in Waterloo, Belgium from 1972 to 1977. Between 1995 and 2002, he ‘aced’ each of the four par threes at Hershey’s Mill Country Club in West Chester PA, where he lived and served on the Greens Committee from 2004 to 2006. John took up skiing at the age of 50 and continued skiing with his daughter into his early 70’s; teaching her to be fearless.
When not on the golf course, you would find John listening to music; on the dance floor with his wife and/or daughter; or, playing bridge with Shirlee and friends. John became a certified Bridge Director in 1993; and, probably because of his naval training it was said that he ran his Hershey’s Mill duplicate bridge games like a tight ship, until moving to Willow Valley in 2008. Entering the millennium, John had a calling and became a Stephen Minister at First Presbyterian Church of West Chester. He was passionate about and enjoyed life, holding onto it until the very end. He will be remembered as a true gentleman.
A Private Family viewing was held on July 1, 2015. A Memorial Service will be held at Willow Valley Spring Run, at 11 am on July 23, 2015, with a reception to follow. Officiate of the ceremony will be Pastor Bill Massey. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the American Lung Association at 55 W. Wacker Drive, Suite 1150, Chicago, IL 60601 or http://www.lung.org/donate. At a later date, there will be a small private ceremony as his ashes are scattered under a favorite tree at BCCC. The family would like to thank the caring staff at Lakeside for their support and understanding.