Phyllis Holmes of Newport, Arkansas, departed this life on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021, at the age of 87.
She was born Feb. 21, 1933, in Tuckerman, Arkansas, the daughter of Charles Lee Tims and Ester Henley Tims.
Holmes was a 1951 Tuckerman High School graduate. She also attended Arkansas College at Batesville.
She married the love of her life, Douglas Price Holmes, Sr. on Nov. 29, 1953.
Together they shared sixty- two years of marriage. Holmes was co-manager of the Ben Franklin Store from 1954 until 1982. She was the owner and certified instructor of Newport Rhythmic Aerobics from 1982 until 1984.
She worked at Pearls Unique where she was a certified pearl specialist. Holmes was a member of the First Presbyterian Church. She was very active in the church, serving as an elder, a Sunday school teacher, and involved with the Presbyterian Women.
She had served in many civic clubs and organizations in Jackson County. She was appointed by Governor Jim Guy Tucker to the Museum Services review panel. She was awarded the friend of tourism award from the Newport Chamber of Commerce in 1996.
In 2000 she was voted Jackson County Woman of the Year. She was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Ozark Gateway Tourism Council. In 2005 she was honored with The Henry Award for her dedication and service to the county’s tourism industry. She was fiercely competitive, just ask anyone who played tennis or golf with her.
She was a perfectionist and a great entertainer. But her greatest love was her family. She was a devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Douglas Price Holmes, Sr.; her parents; four brothers, Henry Lee Tims, Monroe Tims, Thomas Judson Tims, and Charles Ed Tims; and three sisters, Lindell Smith, Alice Biggers, and Kay Cooper.
Holmes is survived by her son, Douglas Price Holmes, Jr., and wife, LeAnn Evans Holmes of Batesville; her daughter, Deborah Holmes Hardy, and husband, H. Dwight Hardy, III of Tulsa, Oklahoma; four grandchildren, Elizabeth Lee Hardy, Bradley Dwight Hardy and wife, Laura Saulnier Hardy, Mary Elizabeth Holmes Miller and husband, Zach, and Douglas Price Holmes, III and wife, Ashley; six great-grandchildren, Aidan Lee Hardy, John Douglas Miller, Parker Price Holmes, Maxwell A. Hardy, Wyatt H. Hardy, and Margaret Louis Miller; one sister, Jeanne Wallace of Little Rock; and a lifetime of friends.
Graveside services will be 2:00 p.m. Tuesday at Walnut Grove Cemetery. Please practice social distancing.
Those honored to serve as pallbearers will be Brad Hardy, Price Holmes, III, Zack Miller, John Morrison, Joseph Rushing, Andy Wallace, and Phillip Wallace. Honorary pallbearers will be great-grandsons.
Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church P. O. Box 664, Newport, Arkansas, 72112, or to the Jackson County Library, 213 Walnut Street, Newport, Arkansas 72112.
