JARS v61n3 - In Memoriam: James Parker Holmes

In Memoriam: James Parker Holmes

James Parker Holmes, "Jim," of Flat Rock, N.C., passed away at the Elizabeth House in Hendersonville, N.C., on January 7, 2007, after a lengthy illness. He was born in Chicago on Nov. 6, 1940, to Parker Manfred Holmes and Dorothy Thomas Holmes. He retired to Flat Rock in June 2000, after living in both Ridgewood and Chester, N.J., for twenty-eight years. His career in finance and investments, spanning thirty-seven years, included Equitable Life Assurance (NY), Columbia Broadcasting Systems, Dean Witter, the Ford Foundation, Dreman Value Management and Heartland Advisors. He received a B.S. in Finance from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis., in 1962 and an M.B.A. in Finance from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., in 1963.

Professionally, Jim was a Chartered Financial Analyst, a member of the New York Society Security Analysts, and coauthor of a chapter in the Handbook of Financial Markets, 6th Edition.

For the last thirty years, he has focused and devoted his spare time to the field of horticulture. He was a Master Gardener and the president of the Skylands Association for the Skylands Botanical Gardens in Ringwood, N.J. His love of plants included membership in the American Rhododendron Society, American Rock Garden Society, Conifer Society and the American Orchid Society. He was an active supporter of the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, N.C.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara Marshall Holmes, of Flat Rock; his mother, Dorothy Holmes, of Lesburg, Va.; sisters, Anita Mahood and husband, James, of Leesburg, Va., and Jeannette Holmes, of Sacramento, Calif., and several nieces and nephews. His only child, Elizabeth Katherine Holmes, preceded him in death in 2004.