PRESQUE ISLE and NORTHEAST HARBOR -Richard Holmes 89, died Jan. 16, 2006, at the Maine Veterans’ Home, Caribou. He was born Feb. 3, 1916, in Northeast Harbor, the son of L. Lawrie and Mary (Gilpatrick) Holmes. He attended Northeast Harbor schools and the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo. He transferred to the University of Maine where he was elected to the Forestry Honor Society, XI Sigma PI, and earned a bachelor of science in forestry engineering. He was a member of Beta Theta PI fraternity at both schools. After graduation, he was hired by Governor Baxter as the first ranger for Baxter State Park in 1939. At the start of World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in Colorado and the Canadian Rockies as an instructor in cold weather survival. After graduating from Engineering Officers Candidate School at Fort Belvoir, Va., he served in Scotland and Germany. After his service in the army, Richard came to Aroostook County to work on the survey for a proposed hydro dam on the Aroostook River. In 1951, he started a 35-year career in land and construction surveying. He was a founding member of the Quoggy Jo Ski Club, worked with the Boy Scouts and served as president of the Presque Isle Community Association. He was a 32nd Degree member of Trinity Lodge No.130 AF & AM, Anah Temple Shrine Club and the Aroostook County Shrine Club. Richard had a great respect for nature and as an amateur botanist, in his retirement years he made a catalogue of Aroostook County wildflowers with his own color pictures. Predeceasing him was his wife, Mary Chute Holmes; and a grandson, Matthew Holmes and three sisters. Surviving him are three sons, Thomas Holmes and his wife, Ellie, of Natick, Mass., Christopher Holmes of Presque Isle, James Holmes and his wife, Donna, of Caribou; a daughter, Claire Holmes and her husband, Eric Marchbein, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren; and a sister, Pat Maines of Holden. Relatives and friends may call 6-8 p.m. Friday, at the Duncan-Graves Funeral Home, 30 Church St., Presque Isle. A graveside memorial service will be held at a later date at the Brookside Cemetery in Somesville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Maine Audobon Society, 20 Gilsland Farm Rd., Falmouth, ME 04105.
RICHARD HOLMES
