Holmes 'quiet and effective'

During his 32 years in the N.C. House of Representatives, George Holmes made friends across party lines.

David Diamont, a former state representative from Surry County, was one of them.

Diamont, a Democrat, and Holmes, a Republican, were good friends, often stopping to chat about life outside the legislature, particularly high-school sports in Yadkin and Surry counties.

"It was a lot of fun," said Diamont, the head football coach East Surry High School.

Holmes, 80, died yesterday at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Holmes represented Yadkin and parts of other northwestern counties in the General Assembly for 16 terms. He was admitted to the medical center early Wednesday for treatment of a blood disease, said Neal Reich of Yadkinville, a friend of the Holmes family.

Holmes then contracted pneumonia, Reich said.

Holmes had announced in March 2008 that he would not run for re-election because of health problems. He said at the time that he planned to spend more time at his house in Hamptonville with his wife, Barbara, a retired schoolteacher.

"George Holmes was a good man," Diamont said. "He became a powerful and well-respected member of our district in the General Assembly. He was a solid individual who always smiled. He knew the issues, and he was a fine gentleman."

Holmes was first elected to the House in 1974 and became one of just nine Republicans in the 120-member chamber -- the result of GOP losses in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

Holmes lost two years later, but returned to the chamber in 1978 and didn't leave for 30 more years. He rose through the Republican ranks, serving as the minority whip and minority party joint caucus leader in the early 1980s.

Diamont, who served 20 years in the state legislature, laid the groundwork for a new arena at Appalachian State University, Holmes' alma mater. But it was Holmes who, when he became co-chairman of the appropriations committee, helped allocate money for the project.

ASU officials named the arena the George Holmes Convocation Center.

Kevin Austin, the chairman of the Yadkin County Republican Party, praised Holmes for his leadership in the legislature and for his efforts in the construction of a water reservoir west of Yadkinville, which will be the foundation for public water service in the county.

"He was consistently an excellent representative for the people of Yadkin," Austin said.

In 2003, Holmes made a bid for speaker of the House that pitted him against Rep. Jim Black, D- Mecklenburg. And they were enemies from then on, Holmes said in an interview in 2008.

In the 1950s, Holmes taught at West Yadkin High School and coached football, baseball and basketball.

Thomas Wooten, a former Yadkin County commissioner, says he remembered Holmes from back then.

"He was a straightforward and honest," Wooten said.

Holmes, a first generation American, was born in Mount Airy on June 20, 1929. His parents were immigrants who worked at Mount Airy's granite quarry.

Holmes' father was from England, and his mother from Scotland. By the time World War II began, his father suffered from a lung condition caused by the granite dust.

The family moved to Washington, where his mother and one of his brothers found war-related jobs. Holmes finished high school in Washington, then moved back to Mount Airy to play professional baseball for the Graniteers. Later, he played for the Old Hickory Rebels.

He was a shortstop and had a .280 batting average. Between seasons he was a student at ASU, where he had a football scholarship. He graduated in 1954 and soon after married Barbara Ireland of Yadkin County.

In 1956, he joined his wife's family's insurance agency, called W.N. Ireland Co. He later became the president and a co-owner. He sold his part of the insurance agency in the early 1990s.

Wooten said that Holmes worked with Yadkin County officials on many local projects, including helping get $1.5 million in state money for the satellite campus of Surry Community College in Yadkinville. The campus opened in April 2003.

Holmes also helped persuade the N.C. Department of Transportation to expand U.S. 421 to four lanes through Yadkin County to Boone, Wooten said.

"You could count on him," Wooten said. "He was quiet and effective."

jhinton@wsjournal.com
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.