Beverly Holmes

Beverly C. Holmes

1936 ~ 2021

Our beloved mother, Beverly Carol Ellis Holmes, passed away peacefully at her home, Thursday, October 14, 2021, she was 85.  She showed immense courage and endurance during her last years of life.  She struggled with many medical problems, but was continually an example of faith and strength to all she came into contact with, especially her family.  Her family was her greatest joy in life.

Beverly was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1936 to Artley Godfrey Ellis and Maxine Salmon Ellis.  She was the oldest of eight children.

On February 14, 1968, she married the love of her life, Dennis Kent Holmes.  They were later solemnized in the Laie, Hawaii Temple.  Denny preceded her in death by nine years.  He cherished her and she him, and together they raised three well-loved children.  They lived and worked in Liberty, UT; Brigham City, UT; Washington, DC; San Francisco, CA; and retired to Wailea, Maui, Hawaii and later moved to Layton, UT.

As well as being an unbelievably fabulous mother and wife, Beverly was a trail blazer.  Without a doubt she was the smartest, most accomplished, and most talented lady we have ever met.  Her professional and volunteer activities are rich with achievement.  She was named “Federal Woman of the Year” for the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Career Excellence Award for the Western Women’s Career Forum, which includes federal and non-federal women in 11 states.  The Utah YWCA also named her “Woman of the Year” and she received “Outstanding Alumni Award” from Henager’s Business College.

She is listed in several guides, including the 10th and subsequent editions of Marquis’ Who’s Who of American Woman; the Director of Professional American Indian/Alaska Native Women; Who’s Who of American Minority Women; and the directory of Significant 20th Century American Minority Women, among others.

She was always active in her community, she volunteer taught English as a second language at a migrant center, helped at a Women’s Crisis Center of the YWCA and served as chairperson of the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Council in Utah.  Over the years she taught classes in Indian Culture and Hawaiian Quilting for Weber State University.  She was also a Cub Scout Den Mother when her boys were involved.

One of her first accomplishments was attaining the Certified Professional Secretary status.  She was the first to attain this in Utah.  She started her Forest Service career in 1974.  By 1978 she was the Assistant to the Deputy Chief for Research in Washington, DC.   In 1988 she and Denny moved to San Francisco, CA, where she was Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief for Administration.  By, 1992 she was Deputy Regional Forester for Administration, Region 5, and she retired in 1994 to Maui, Hawaii.

Beverly was an avid hobbyist and crafts woman and was highly accomplished.  Any of her works (needlepoint, embroidery, leather beading, stained glass, Hawaiian quilts) ever entered into a State Fair always won a blue ribbon.  This was to the dismay of her sister that had entries too.

She is survived by her children; Michael Robert Holmes (Evelyn); Catherine Lee Holmes; Paul Edmund Holmes (Kelly); her sister Donna Geigley (Hank); and her brothers Billy Ellis (Carol); Patrick Ellis (Leslie) and Stuart Ellis (Debbie); nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

If you are lucky, and you met Beverly, she touched your life and you wanted to be near her.  You admired her style, her dignity, and her gracious demeanor.  You wanted to hear her voice and even read her handwriting.  She lived her life at full gallop with guns blazing.

Graveside services will be held Thursday. October 21, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. at the Liberty Utah Cemetery.

Services entrusted to Lindquist’s Layton Mortuary, 1867 No. Fairfield Rd., Layton, Utah.