Grace Bryan Holmes

Grace Bryan Holmes, 98, of Decatur, Georgia, died Friday, April 21, 2017. Born April 9, 1919, in Riddleville, Georgia, she was the daughter of the late Gainer E. Bryan and Lila Smith Bryan. She moved to Atlanta in 1966 with her husband, Rev. Thomas J. Holmes, Sr., and continued to reside in Decatur after her husband's death in 1985. Grace was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, teacher, pianist for church services, gifted writer and recognized poet who, with her husband, was a significant figure in combating racial injustice among Southern Baptists as they supported racial integration of Mercer University in the 1960s. She graduated from Sandersville High School in Sandersville, Georgia, at the age of 16, and from Bessie Tift College, in Forsyth, Georgia, at the age of 20. In 1940, she married Rev. Thomas J. Holmes, Sr. and they had two children: Katherine Holmes Benson and Thomas J. Holmes, Jr. She was a pastor's wife for 44 years. Grace Holmes is survived by: daughter Katherine Holmes Benson (and her husband William Benson, Rome, Ga.); grandchildren Hannah Holmes Harris (and her husband Dana Harris, Avondale Estates, Ga.), Rachel Simmons Glover (and her husband Richard Glover, Oakwood, Ga.), and Matthew Bryan Simmons (and his wife Carrie Brainerd Simmons, Altoona, Fl.); and great-grandchildren Aaron Harris, Elizabeth Rose Harris, Brett Glover, Caeden Simmons, and Kimberly Grace Glover. Other surviving close family include Mary Anna Bryan (Lawrenceville, Ga.), widow of Gainer E. Bryan, Jr., the brother of Grace Holmes, and her children Anna Cropley, Sarah Spicher, William Gainer Bryan, and John Bryan. A graveside memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 11 a.m. at Brownwood Cemetery in Sandersville.

May and Smith Funeral Directors in Sandersville is in charge of these arrangements.

www.mayandsmithfuneraldirectors.com