Lois Rae Holmes

Lois Rae Gallagher Holmes was born May 16, 1933, on a farm in central Illinois, daughter of Glenn and Mary Gallagher, and passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, January 9, 2025. She was 91 years old.

Lois had six siblings; two older sisters and four younger brothers. Her father was a tenant farmer. He farmed 360 acres and also raised cattle. The family also had chickens and a large garden.  Grandma Gallagher was a very good cook which, according to Lois, was the reason they never had any trouble finding farm hands.

Lois loved her family and had many fond memories of growing up on a farm. She would often marvel at the fact that, in all that time and with such a big family, there was never a serious injury to any of the kids. She was always proud of what good parents she had.

Lois attended a one-room country school through the 8th grade, and then Georgetown High School, from which she graduated in 1951. Lois loved her high school years and involved herself in as many activities as she could, including cheerleading. Mom used to tell us that, even though the high school was 16 miles from the farm, her parents never complained about driving the girls back and forth so that they could fully participate in high school activities.

Lois started dating Charles (Chuck) Holmes her junior year. They fell in love and married in February of 1954.
After high school, Lois went to work at Illinois Bell as a long distance operator. She loved working, and was proud of the fact that she could pay her rent, buy groceries, clothes, and things for her hope chest AND go out to eat once a week. She also managed to save $1,000 by the time she got married.

Daughter Paula was born in September, 1954. Chuck graduated from the University of Illinois in 1956 and daughter Angela was born. After Angie's birth, Chuck was hired by General Dynamics, and the family moved to San Diego in 1959. Lois quit her job at the phone company to become a full-time wife and mother.

Chuck's career at General Dynamics resulted in the family making numerous moves over the next several years, as he was offered a job with the offsite missile program. They spent a year in Spokane, Washington, a year in Plattsburg, New York, and a year in Rochester, New York. In 1963, Chuck returned to the Pomona division and the family returned to California, settling in Claremont for the next seven years.

Lois loved her years in Claremont, and her daughters blossomed, too. She jumped into many activities, such as helping with elections, leading a troop of Girl Scouts, selling Avon products, golfing, and joining a singing group called Sweet Adelines. She took cake decorating and upholstery classes and became quite good at both. She was also a good wife and an attentive and caring mother.

In 1970, Chuck accepted a job as Director of labor Relations at Freeman Coal Company in Benton, Illinois. It was a bit of a shock to Lois and the girls, but Chuck thought it was best for his family. The family moved to an eight-acre farm outside of Benton, where the one consolation was that we were able to have horses.

Once again, Lois set about making a comfortable home for her family and threw herself into community activities. Lois took more golf lessons and joined a bowling league. She and Chuck planted a big garden and she loved the horses, as well as all the stray dogs and cats, that we acquired. They joined some social groups and the Methodist Church. Eventually, Lois took a job at the bank which she really enjoyed.

The next ten years saw the girls starting college, Paula meeting Pat in college and getting married in 1975, Angie moving to Utah in 1978, Paula and Pat having their first child in 1978 and then moving to Washington State in 1979. Around that time, Chuck lost his job at Freeman Coal.

Shortly thereafter, Chuck accepted a job as labor relations manager at Tacoma Boatbuilding Company (Washington State) and Chuck and Lois moved to University Place in the early 80's. Over the next decade, they enjoyed the arrival of four more grandchildren, three to Angie and Don in Utah, and one more to Pat and Paula. They were wonderful grandparents.  Lois was given the nickname "Glo," which is short for Grandma Lois.

Sadly for our family, Chuck and Lois divorced in 1993. It was Lois's decision and was due to mental health problems she was struggling with at the time. Those were some very hard years for all of us. After spending some time in Arizona where her mother and brother still lived, Lois moved into Grandview Estates in University Place.

To this day, we don't know how Lois healed from her depression, but over several years she did. She became the woman she had been and was meant to be; fun-loving, adventurous, caring, open-minded, interested in everything, and generous. She was a wonderful friend, a loving grandmother, and a spirited and fun great-grandmother.

After a few years living at Grandview Estates, Lois became the manager, a job she did for almost 20 years. She was still managing at age 87 and was very good at it. It gave her a great sense of worth and she made many lifelong friends. We all believe that this contributed to her healing.
Also during this time period, Lois volunteered at St. Joseph Hospital, helping out in surgery-waiting and the gift shop. In 2000, she was honored with "Volunteer of the Year," at the annual banquet. Kudos to Lois!

Lois was living independently until she had a stroke in August, 2023. After a few weeks in the rehab hospital, she moved to Brookdale Allenmore Assisted Living, where she lived for almost a year and a half. It is a testament to Lois's positive attitude and overall friendliness that she adapted rather quickly to her new circumstances. She liked her new home and the friends she made there.

Lois is survived by her daughters, Paula Holmes Cummings (Patrick) and Angela Holmes Tinsley (Donald), two of her seven siblings, Dennis Gallagher (Mary Ann) and Jean Gallagher Sandusky, five grandchildren (Sean, Katie, Melissa, Kevin, and Brennen), eight great-grandchildren (Madison, Merrick, Charlee, Lily, Mitch, Chase, Cedar and Sage), and many nieces and nephews, who will continue to cherish the precious memories they have shared with her.

As a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend to so many, Lois will be remembered for her fun-loving spirit, her love of music and dancing, her wonderful sense of humor, her devotion to the Seahawks and Mariners, her enjoyment of all her grandkids and great-grandkid's sports, her sense of adventure and love of travel, her fantastic cooking and baking skills, and her glorious sense of style.

Fly away, dear Glo. We will sorely miss you but will hold you forever in our hearts.