Robert Thurston Holmes, LCDR (Retired)

Robert Thurston Holmes, LCDR (Retired), aged 90, of Camp Springs, Maryland, passed away on March 8, 2016 following an extended illness. He was the son of the late Robert William Holmes and the late Emma Frutchey Pysher Kurtz, of Trenton New Jersey. He was preceded in death by his parents and his daughter, Nancy Lynn Holmes Holcomb of Spokane, Washington. He is survived by his wife of sixty-seven years, Laura Carolyn (nee Smith) Holmes, and two sons: Robert Craig Holmes (wife Deborah Jean Chadwick) of Pawleys Island, South Carolina; Scott William Holmes (wife Carol Marlene Westfaul) of Franklin, Tennessee; six grandchildren: Laura Kirsten Holmes Girguis (husband Samy) of Woodstock, Georgia; Robert Chadwick Holmes of Houston, Texas; Melissa Lynn Holmes Jones (husband T. Dale) of Franklin, Tennessee; Amy Elizabeth Holmes McDowell (husband Jonathan) of Huntsville, Alabama; Robert Jason Holcomb of Cleveland, Mississippi; and Daniel Joseph Holcomb of Spokane, Washington; and five great grandchildren: Andoly Emma Girguis of Woodstock, Georgia; Marley Evelynn Jones and Lila Elise Jones of Franklin, Tennessee; and William Holmes McDowell and Caroline Elizabeth McDowell of Huntsville, Alabama. Holmes was born December 23, 1925 in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and was reared in Trenton, New Jersey. He attended the Rowan, Columbus and Gregory Schools, Junior High School #3, and Trenton Central High School, where he graduated in 1943. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1943, and attended Drew University, Navy Line School, and George Washington University. He was commissioned as an officer and an aviator in 1946, was carrier qualified and initially flew dive-bombers. Over the next 21 years he was stationed on several aircraft carriers and at naval bases at Jacksonville, Florida; Norfolk, Virginia; Pensacola, Florida; Monterey, California; Bureau of Aeronautics; Glynco, Georgia; NAS Patuxent River and the Naval Air Facility at Andrews AFB. He accumulated over 4,800 flying hours and flew numerous types of aircraft from propeller-driven to jet propulsion. Following his retirement in 1967, he joined Andrews Federal Credit Union where he served as head of the accounting department, controller, and vice president of both Personnel and Administration. He retired from AFCU in 1988. Holmes enjoyed fishing, reading, “Dixieland” music, and played various musical instruments recreationally. Holmes will be interred at a later date in Franklin, Tennessee.