Donna B. Holmes, age 76, of Manhattan, died December, 31, 2019 in Manhattan.
She was born southwest of Belleville, rural Republic County, Kansas, on May 27th, 1943.
She was the daughter of Roy C and Sylvia Walter Blackburn, a twin and one of 8 children.
Before the age of 2, due to a house fire the family moved to what had been the home of Donna’s great-grandparents and remained there for life.
Donna attended McCune School, a one room school through the 8th grade. She was a graduate of Belleville High School with college classes via Seward County Community College.
Donna was married to Warren Holmes at Central Christian Church in Belleville Kansas on November 22, 1962. They had been lovingly married for 57 years in 2019. They had 3 children; Thais L. Holmes of Flagstaff Arizona, Layne C. Holmes of Casper Wyoming and Ryan S. Holmes of Republic Missouri. They moved to Hugoton Kansas in 1967 where their children grew up.
Donna was a member of Hugoton First Christian Church & Hugoton First Assembly of God where she was involved in women’s’ ministries, a Sunday school teacher for various ages, and a youth group sponsor. She was a 4-H leader and Stevens County Fair superintendent and a member and officer of the General Federation of Women’s clubs. Donna was a dedicated stay at home mother and homemaker, taking care of the children until all the children were school aged. In 1974 she took as position as a 4th Grade Teacher Aid with U.S.D 210 and remained in that position for 27 years. In 2001, she retired and moved to Manhattan, Kansas with her husband Warren, where she became very active in the First Assembly of God church.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Roy & Sylvia Blackburn and Leroy & Vera Holmes; siblings & spouses; twin Donald at birth, Marvin Blackburn, Eddie & Betty Blackburn, Dale Blackburn; Freta & Charles Cornet, Glen Cornett, LaVon Bowman, Don Rohr, Albert & Leanna Clem, Jesse Holmes.
Donna is survived by her husband Warren, daughter Thais of Flagstaff, AZ, 2 sons: Layne & his wife Edie of Casper, WY and Ryan & his wife Heather of Republic, MO.
5 grandchildren: Cristiana Holmes of Boise, ID, Elisa Holmes of Joplin MO, Gage Holmes of Sparta, MO, Deven Holmes of Mt. Vernon, WA and Connor Homes of Republic, MO, 3 step-grandchildren: Cameron Caruso, Kayla Caruso and Kaitlyn Caruso and a step-great-grandson Elias. Also surviving are 2 sisters Erma Cornett of Scandia, Ks and Delores Bowman of Hebron, NE, sisters-in-law Rosalyn (Blackburn) Ogle of Richland, MO, Ilene (Blackburn) Kelly of Belleville, KS. Cherished in-laws remaining include Adele (Holmes) Rohr and Leona (Holmes) Tyler as well as a host of beloved nieces, nephews and friends.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday January 7, 2020 at the Manhattan First Assembly of God, 2310 Candlewood in Manhattan.
Graveside services will be held at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday January 7, 2020 at the Belleville Cemetery in Belleville, Kansas.
Memorial contributions are suggested in memory of Donna to the Manhattan First Assembly of God. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502.