Raymond Lee Miller Holmes

Raymond Lee Miller Holmes

Raymond Holmes was born on September 5, 1937 in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he spent his childhood years. He passed peacefully from this world on December 21, 2018.  As a youngster, he was affectionately known by his family as “Little Joe”, in tribute to the fatherly role his esteemed Uncle Joe played in his life.  Recognized early as an intellectually bright child, he was encouraged to pursue a quality education.  He graduated Valedictorian of his high school class, and his first college studies were at Virginia State University where he became a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.  His college studies were interrupted by military service in the Army where he specialized in missile technology and from which he was honorably discharged in 1964.  Thereafter, he continued his college studies and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering in 1971 at The George Washington University (GWU). In 1997, he earned a Master of Science degree in Computer Sciences/Artificial Intelligence, also at GWU.   Raymond’s career in computer science management had its longest tenure in the Division of Banking and Regulation, Board of Governors, The Federal Reserve Board, from which he retired on March 1, 2004, after 37 years of stellar service. 

In his young adult years, Raymond married Margaret Gertrude Douglas. Born in that union were two daughters – Michelle and our heavenly daughter, Raychelle.

Raymond was an avid reader of ancient history and of the Civil War, he loved Blues music, and he was a trivia buff.  He was also given to expressing himself in folksy, Southern witticisms that brought clarity and/or humor to a subject matter  -- such as “this coffee is so strong, it will make you walk straight”, or “you’ve got a few dogs in your kennel, too”, or, observing wild life poised at the edge of a lagoon, he would say, “they’re going grocery shopping”.  He was a quiet and peaceful man who took his spiritual guidance and his orientation to life from Buddhism. 

Raymond and Dorothy Alita Evans married on June 29, 1985.  In their marriage of thirty-three years, plus, they enjoyed golfing, biking, cross country skiing, giving dinner parties, attending symphonic music concerts, coming home to each other in the evenings for quiet meals shared together, and traveling, far and wide, including a third trip to Spain in the fall of 2018. In their union, he viewed Dorothy as fire and himself as a mountain. Raymond’s life was also rich in service to others. While still living in the Washington DC area, where he resided for nearly fifty years, he volunteered for many of those years with a shelter to feed the poor, and he served as Assistant Treasurer and a member of the Ministerial Relations Committee of All Souls Church, Unitarian. When he and Dorothy moved to Bluffton, SC in 2008, he volunteered in several capacities with the Boys and Girls Club of Bluffton for which he received an award for his distinguished service in 2009.  The pre-teens with whom he worked loved him.  Quite a few of them conspired to have him be their golf coach among the three available coaches.  When it was time to be assigned to a coach, the children were told to count off by threes, with Raymond being number three.  They would pipe up to the coordinator, “tell us how we can be a number three; we want to work with Mr. Holmes”.

In addition to Dorothy Evans Holmes and their daughter, Michelle, Raymond is survived by three grandchildren – Victor Robinson (Anisha), Kristina Robinson, and Allyson Sumlin (Joel), five great grandchildren, and a host of extended family members and friends.

A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, January 12, 2019 at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 311 E. Harris Street, Savannah, GA 31401.

In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution to the Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina for research on advanced prostate cancer.

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