Lillian Janice Holmes

Lillian Janice Holmes was born on December 25, 1931 in Lima, Ohio. She grew up in a coal-heated house and spent her childhood days playing with paper dolls, listening to radio shows, and playing dress-up. Relaxation for her was a bus ride on a hot summer night, a visit to the local city park, a car ride in the country, shopping at the five and dime, dancing to the jukebox at the YMCA, visiting the soda fountain at the local drugstore, going to a 25 cent movie theater, or better yet, the drive-in. 

Jan married William Martin Holmes on June 8, 1951 in Oxford, OH after Bill’s graduation from Miami University, where Jan also attended. They had four children, and in their early married life lived in Peoria, IL, Indianapolis, IN, and Findlay, OH, before retiring to Grand Junction, CO in 1985. Jan had a deep love for the southwest, and she and Bill spent many winters in Green Valley, AZ. They were married for nearly 70 years when Bill passed away in February of 2020. 

Jan and Bill shared many adventures together, but their most memorable was a cross-country bicycle trip they took to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Most of their travels were initiated by Bill, but this particular trip was Jan’s idea. They rode from Colorado to their hometown of Lima, OH, and both said it was one of the true highlights of their lives. Also notably initiated by Jan was their move to Grand Junction, CO from Findlay, OH. Jan decided she wanted to spend the second half of her life in Colorado, and she told Bill he could come with her if he wished. He wished, and they went.

Jan’s first job was as Santa’s helper at Montgomery Ward. She also worked as a switchboard operator. Her primary jobs, however, were two occupations for which she was never paid: homemaker and artist. 

Anyone who knew Jan knows that she was always making things. She was a talented cook and baker, a painter, a basket-weaver, a seamstress, an embroiderer, a knitter, a spinner and a weaver. She spent countless hours at her loom, and it was a true sadness in her life when her hands could no longer create in this way. She left a legacy of her work in the houses of family and friends, and many of their necks are kept warm by her scarves. 

During her child-rearing years, Jan provided nightly meals at an actual dinner table, volunteered for every school function she could, helped with homework and school projects, made birthday cakes and award-winning Halloween costumes, and instilled the values of kindness and compassion in each of her children. Everything in Jan’s home was handmade, and everyone was welcome, and every detail was perfect. 

Second only to her dedication to her family was her dedication to a life of faith and service in the name of Christ. The most meaningful of her experiences in the Christian life, and the most life-changing, was a Koinonia retreat in Findlay in 1973, where she said she first felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. She wanted to share her experience with others, and was instrumental in bringing Koinonia to Grand Junction when she and Bill moved there after his retirement. 

Jan maintained a strong faith through the death of her youngest son David. Of his death, she wrote, “I will always carry scars from that tragedy, but they will disappear the moment that I reach Heaven and hold David in my arms.” She also survived the death of her grandson Luke in 2017, and no doubt is holding Luke in her arms as well. 

Jan’s son Mark and she read and discussed the Bible regularly, and up until the last few weeks of her life, Jan was reading sermons sent by a local pastor. She never stopped exploring her faith and spirituality.

Jan believed the most important lesson from the Bible was to love your neighbor as yourself, and she was dedicated to helping others. As a very young girl, she taught the neighborhood boys how to knit (though there could have been other motivations for that), and as a teenager, she was a Canteen Volunteer for the USO. Jan was disturbed by racial inequality and carried a “sense of wrong” inside her about it. As bus rides were segregated when she was growing up, she would sit as far back on the bus as she was permitted and talk to people she was taught to distrust.

Her compassion for and service to others continued into her adult life. She taught elementary students about famous artists, and she taught friends and family how to sew and knit and weave. She taught adults how to read through the Vista Volunteer program at the Mesa County Library, and she was a board member at the Grand Junction Art Center. She volunteered with Catholic Outreach in Grand Junction and through this organization, taught homeless women how to knit. The volunteerism she was most proud of was the Book in Hand program at Catholic Outreach, where weekly, she read to children and presented them with a book of their choice to take home. 

Jan loved animals and most of all, she loved dogs and always had one by her side. Most beloved were her childhood dog Scooter and her last two dogs, GJ and Lily. She also loved her daughter Lisa’s three dogs and spent her last days snuggled up with them. 

Jan was a blessing to everyone lucky enough to know her, and especially to her family.  Her exemplary life of giving, teaching, creating, and loving deeply, is one that her children aspire to emulate. 

Jan is survived by son Mark (Grand Junction, CO), daughters Kim (Charleson, SC) and Lisa (Boulder, CO), and seven grandchildren. 

A virtual memorial service will be held on January 16 at 11am.

Memorial gifts may be made to Grand Valley Catholic Outreach at 245 S. First St., Grand Junction, CO, 81501 or to First Presbyterian Church at 3940 27 ½ Rd., Grand Junction, CO, 81506.

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