It’s been a heartbreaking week for me and my family. My step-dad, Gary, died in the early morning hours of Monday, March 28, 2011 of a heart attack. We buried him yesterday in the same cemetery my grandparents and great-grandparents were buried – Higden McLehaney Cemetery in Higden, Arkansas. We’re all pretty devastated. I wanted to post a blog in his memory, so I’ll include the words I wrote about him, which were read at the funeral services, by my aunt Teana (and she did a wonderful job) and they describe him best, I think.
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Gary Holmes was an extraordinarily caring, friendly and generous man. He would do anything he could to help his family and friends, never asking anything in return and always with warmth. He loved to laugh, in fact, his laugh was infectious and he had an unforgettable smile. You could be in the worst mood and somehow he could soften that mood, even if just a little bit, without realizing he was doing it. Gary loved scuba diving, playing tennis and watching Razorback football with his best friend Steve, riding his motorcycle and going on trips with his wife, whether to Florida , or Branson. He enjoyed watching the SyFy Channel and listening to classic rock n’ roll. He was a hard-working Orkin man and even his customers loved him; some regularly baked him cookies and he’d of course eat them before he got home to his wife, because being a stubborn diabetic, he knew he wasn’t supposed to be eating them. Just like he wasn’t supposed to hide chocolate in his bedroom drawers!
He loved animals – would take in any stray if it came up to his door – and especially loved Shane’s dog named Man-Man. Man-Man was Gary’s buddy! Gary would give the shirt off his back to a stranger and never said a bad word about, or to anyone. He hardly ever complained about anything and even when things were not-so-good, Gary had a way of staying in high spirits and have a positive attitude. He loved his grandchildren and was so excited to hear about each of them being born.
Gary was Baptized at Calvary Baptist Church in North Little Rock at a young age. He coached girls’ softball when his daughters, Laura and Kimberly, were younger. He was a loving husband, father, brother, step-father and friend to many, including two loving daughters, eight grandchildren and three very grateful step-children who thought of him as their true dad. He was married to his wife Kitty for eleven wonderful years.
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I made a slide-show of various photos of him we used at the funeral also and wanted to include it here since I uploaded it to You Tube.
We will love and miss you always, but we will definitely laugh and smile a lot more because of you….
