HOLMES, Geanette Westlake 1918-2008
HOLMES, HARRIS, CALDWELL
Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 9/6/2011 at 13:08:19
Geanette Westlake Harris Holmes, 89, died Wednesday, August 27, at The Denver Sunset Home. She was born September 8, 1918, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, daughter of Ralph Burton Harris, a native of Cedar Falls, and Lois Margaret Caldwell, of Iberia, Ohio.
She grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and Chevy Chase, Maryland. She graduated in 1937 from The Holton-Arms School, a private college-prep school for girls, in Washington, D.C. She joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority at The George Washington University. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1941. While there she met Wendell (“Hutch”) Holmes from Strawberry Point. They married March 26, 1942, in Miami Beach, Florida.
The couple moved to Waterloo in 1947. From 1947 to 1967 they lived in Highland; from 1968 to 2002 they lived on Sheridan Road. He died May 10, 2002. Geanette moved to Bickford Cottage in 2004; and to The Denver Sunset Home in 2006.
Throughout her life, Geanette was a devoted wife, a loyal friend, a loving mother and mother-in-law, and a proud grandparent. Her smile could stop traffic, and her wit and charm could make anyone smile back.
Her special interests included her sewing club and painting quintessential Iowa scenes. She was active in Pan-Hellenic efforts to promote the fraternity system; and she greatly enjoyed her sisters in Chapter Z of PEO.
She is survived by her two sons and their wives, John and Joanie of Waterloo, and Stephen and Debbie of Ames, five grandchildren, Kari, Alex, Wyatt, Michael and Shelley, and her husband Matte; two nieces and two nephews and their eight children; and a sister-in-law, Virginia Stephens, of Seattle, Washington.
She was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Bill Harris, of Chevy Chase.
Private family services will be held, with private burial in Fairview Cemetery in Cedar Falls. The family requests that memorials be directed to The Denver Sunset Home or the Waterloo Center for the Arts. Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
[Source: Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home, Cedar Falls, Iowa]
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