Holmes, Rosa Thomas

Mrs. Rosa Lee Thomas Holmes of Christiansburg, Virginia, went to be with the Lord on April 29, 2006.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Zimri Sackcloth Holmes; her sister, Mrs. Verna Thomas Holmes; her grandnephew, Christopher A. Holmes; her other sisters, Nannie Thomas Carter, Virginia Thomas, Geneva Calloway; and her brother, Willie Randolph Thomas.

Rosa Lee Thomas was born in Beckley, West Virginia, on October 8, 1913. Her parents were the late William Randolph Thomas and Mary Elizabeth Morgan Thomas. After the death of her father, her mother remarried to Matthew Calloway. She was the second of eight children.

She spent her early childhood in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Christiansburg, Virginia. She started her early education at the Hill School in Christiansburg, Virginia. She later attended the Christiansburg Industrial Institute, where she graduated in 1936 along with her sister, Verna Mae.

She was baptized in a river with her sister Verna Mae in Kentucky when she was about 13 years old. She became a member of Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church in her youth. After she graduated from Christiansburg Institute, she earned money for school by babysitting for Mr. and Mrs. Burrell Morgan.

She would visit Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Holmes on occasion, and met Zimri Holmes through this association. She and Zimri Holmes courted for about 10 years before they were married by Rev. J. E. Harris on July 30, 1940, at the parsonage of Asbury United Methodist Church. In 1952, Holmes entered Virginia State College, Petersburg, Virginia. Mrs. Nannie Hairston recalled seeing Holmes board the train for her trips to Petersburg.

Her major was elementary education and minor was in English. During the last two years of college, she cooked for the president of the college, Dr. Robert P. Daniel and family. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Virginia State in 1956. She later earned 21 hours in graduate education.

After graduating from college, Holmes got a teaching job in Floyd County. She taught sixth grade and seventh grade English. She later taught at Blacksburg Graded School, Friends Elementary, and Blacksburg Middle School. She was one of the first Black teachers to integrate the Montgomery County School System. She retired from teaching in 1978.

Holmes was a devoted Christian and faithful member of Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church in Christiansburg, Virginia. Over a number of years, she served the church in a variety of roles: taught in Sunday School and Bible school, was president of the Women’s Club for 22 years, sang in the Senior Choir, taught Cub Scouts, was secretary of the Missionary Circle, and was assistant clerk at the church.

Holmes was active in civic and community affairs. She mended clothes at the nursing home. She met with some of the retired teachers monthly for breakfast. Holmes was a member of the Friendship Garden Club. Before integration in the public schools, she was a member of the 9th District Teacher’s Association. In recent months, she was interviewed for the oral history project concerning Christiansburg Institute.

Holmes and other women who enjoyed quilting, embroidering, and knitting met for three hours every Monday at the Montgomery County and Radford Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) Office. She was recognized for her service in volunteering more than 4,000 hours by receiving the president’s Volunteer Service Award in July 2004. Holmes also received a certificate of Recognition in 1998 from the National Cancer Society. In 2005, she was awarded the Pearl of Merit Trailblazer by the Tau Mu Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the African American Faculty and Staff Association at Radford University.

Holmes was an avid reader. She read the Bible every morning, and loved to read the daily newspaper and other publications. Her favorite passage in the Bible was Psalm 23. She enjoyed doing crossword puzzles. Baking cakes for various church and community functions was also a favorite pastime.

She leaves to rejoice in her memory her loving sister, Mary (Henry) Catherine Calloway Brown of Columbus, Ohio; devoted brother-in-law, Nathan Holmes of Christiansburg, Virginia; sister-in-law, Mattie Holmes of Dublin, Virginia; niece, Rita Holmes Irvin of Christiansburg, Virginia; nephew, Glen (Michele) Holmes of Christiansburg, Virginia, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina; grandniece, Davina Dawn Irvin of Manassas, Virginia; grandnephew, Jonathan “Jon” (Katina) Holmes of Christiansburg, Virginia; great-grandnieces, Kyanna Nashelle Holmes and Desiree Tyesha Holmes of Christiansburg, Virginia, and a host of other relatives and friends. She shall be missed by her special friends, Mrs. Lois Teele, Mrs. Nannie Hairston, Mrs. Rosalie Paige, Mrs. Marie Morgan and others at Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church.

Funeral services will be held at Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church, 580 High Street, Christiansburg, Va. 24073, at 1 p.m., Saturday, May 6, 2006. The family will greet friends and relatives as well as receive expressions of sympathy on the same day at the church beginning at 12 noon.

Donations to Schaeffer Memorial Baptist Church Building Fund are requested in lieu of flowers.

Final rites are entrusted to Penn’s Funeral Home, 248 Randolph Avenue, Pulaski, Virginia, Telephone: 540-980-1226 / FAX 540-980-2929.

**Compiled and written by Michele Clark Holmes**