#Middlebury #Obituary
Mary Lou Holmes, 85, of Middlebury passed away July 29, 2019, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Conn., after a brief illness. She was the wife of 40 years of the late John F. Holmes, who passed away in 2001.
Mrs. Holmes was born Oct. 15, 1933, at St. Mary’s Hospital, a daughter of the late Hon. Raymond and Loretta (Morris) Shea. She graduated from Sacred Heart High School, then earned her bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph College and master’s degrees from both Southern and Central Connecticut State Universities.
Mrs. Holmes was a proud classroom teacher for many years in the Naugatuck School System, teaching at Salem and Central Avenue schools. She was a communicant of St. Francis Church during her youth and when she passed, and a long-time communicant of St. John of the Cross in Middlebury, Conn., where she served in many capacities, including trustee. She also was a dedicated volunteer for St. John the Evangelist School in Watertown, Conn. She became a Middlebury resident for a second time in 2008, moving from Watertown, Conn. Her Catholic faith and her family were central to her life.
Mrs. Holmes is survived by her daughter, Patricia Losure of Watertown, and her husband, Victor, and granddaughter, Julie, and her husband, Ryan, as well as her son, John Holmes of Middlebury and his wife, Sheila, and grandchildren Jim, Eileen, Bob, Tom and Maura. Besides her parents, she is predeceased by her sister, Sr. Patricia Shea, R.S.M., and her children Julia and Christopher.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, Aug. 1, with the funeral procession leaving the Alderson-Ford Funeral Home of Naugatuck at 201 Meadow St. at 10:30 a.m. and proceeding to St. Francis of Assisi Church for a Mass of Christian Burial at 11 am. Burial will follow in St. James Cemetery. Visitation will be held Thursday morning at the funeral home from 9:30 until the procession leaves for church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, or to Middlebury Fire Department Ambulance, 65 Tucker Hill Road, Middlebury, CT 06762-2512. For online condolences, please visit www.fordfh.com.
