Eva Jane Holmes, Class of 1958

Posted May 15, 2023

Holmes Eva Jane Obit Pic

Eva Jane Holmes ’58 died January 14, 2023. She was born on Sept. 13, 1935, to the late Carl L. Holmes and Ruth Arnold. ‘Jane’ was born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Westerville, Ohio. She Otterbein College, where she was involved in the Sigma Alpha Tau (Owls) sorority. Jane lived a very busy life in high school and college. She was named numerous times as homecoming queen and won many beauty queen contests. She was also very involved in various school activities, organizations, school government and enjoyed being a majorette. She loved art, majored in art and finished up her last year of college at Ohio State University, home of the Buckeyes.

She was from a very musical family, her sister and cousin were both accomplished opera singers and her uncle Robert Evans Holmes was the conductor for the festival choir at Idyllwild School of Music in California and then formed the Idyllwild Master Chorale in 1975. The Holmes Amphitheater of Idyllwild Arts was named after him.

Jane was a devout Christian and was very active at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale, N.Y. She was the president of the Woman’s Guild and secretary to the late Rev. Scottie Griffin. She worked in NYC for the UN and later took a new position as the main receptionist at the grandiose headquarters for Kraft General Foods in Rye Brook, N.Y., which was later acquired by Phillip Morris.

Jane retired from Phillip Morris 15 years later and relocated with her daughter’s family to the White Mountains of New Hampshire where she soon acquired a whole new way of life, and loved it. She continued her activity and love for her Lord and worked for the First Congregational Church of Ossipee.

Jane was the granddaughter of the late Rev. Roy Carlton Arnold, founder and pastor of the Christian Missionary Alliance Church of Lima, Ohio. Her remains will be buried in Lima, Ohio along with her parents in their family plot.

She is survived by her sister MaryAlyce Holmes ’53; her two children, Christy Howell Pacheco and Theodore M. Howell 3rd; and her three grandchildren, Ryan James Pacheco, Kenneth Howell and Kayla Howell.