Command Sergeant Major Franklin Theodore Holmes

Funeral services for Command Sergeant Major Franklin Theodore Holmes, United States Army Retired, will be held Monday, October 10, 2005 at 2 PM at George Funeral Homes, Historic Downtown Chapel, 211 Park Ave., SW, Aiken, SC, with Reverend Gene Mullikin officiating. Interment with full military honors accorded as well as Masonic rites will follow in Aiken Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends Sunday, October 9, 2005 from 6 until 8 PM at the funeral home.

Command Sergeant Major Holmes, 77, of West Columbia, SC, died Friday, morning, October 7, 2005.

Born in Caribou, ME, a son of the late Hiram H. and Hazel Avis Holmes, he retired from the United States Army after thirty years of service where he obtained the rank of Command Sergeant Major. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, Army Occupation Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. He had been a resident of St. Pete, FL and Colorado Springs, CO prior to coming to West Columbia, SC in March of this year after the death of his wife Lois Holmes. He worked for Unisys at NORAD while in Colorado Springs. Command Sergeant Major Holmes was a 32nd degree mason, lifetime member of Acacia Lodge #94, AFM, and was a member of the Al Kaly Shrine Temple.

He is survived by sons, Wayne Holmes, Columbia, SC, Larry Stewart, Sherrie Aiken, SC, Van Holmes, Lynn Chapin, SC and Mike Stewart, Elaine Savannah, GA; brother, John A. Holmes, Jan Griffith, IN; sisters, Ella Van Schenck, George New Waverly, TX, Carlotta Wagner, Ben Mountain Home, AR and Elaine Maroney, Jim Sacramento, CA; nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. A brother, Henry Holmes, preceded him in death.

Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer?s Association, c/o the Council on Aging, P.O. Box 3156, Aiken, SC 29802.