Birth date: Mar 4, 1961 Death date: Feb 20, 2018
Howard “Howie” Mark Holmes, 56, of Rixeyville passed away on Tuesday, February 20, 2018. He was born March 4, 1961 in Williamsport, PA to Ann Marie Fiddler Holmes and the late Howard Leroy Holmes. In addition to his mother, he is Read Obituary
With deepest sympathy, my thoughts and prayers go out to the Holmes family. I was blessed, not just to have him as a teacher, but also as both a mentor and friend. He greatly influenced my life for the better, whose life and legacy stands as a shining example of God's light in the world. He will be sorely missed.
Howie was a wonderful role model for the students at Fredericksburg Christian School. He was truly a man of God. Our prayers and condolences to his family.
I wasn’t one for liking or being liked by teachers, but I loved Mr. Holmes. And...he, well, made fun of me every chance he could. His humor was one of his greatest gifts. I wish I would have had the chance to tell him that I’ve emulated him for years—using his passion for education as a model for my own. I missed telling you on this side of heaven, but I’ll let you know, Mr. Holmes, when we meet again in glory.
Honoring God's servant, Pastor Howie Holmes
I knew Howie when I was a science teacher at Culpeper Christian. When he came to speak for chapel the kids (and I) loved it. Everyone would start whispering to each other about what science demonstration he would do and wondered what was hidden in his stuff on the stage.His messages were so simple a 4 year old could pay attention and get it,yet so profound I was always challanged.We were all blessed by knowing him. Lisa Orr
Howie Holmes is an example of Jesus’ love. He exemplified that in the classroom and in coaching. He focused on everyone and put himself last. He touched many of his students at FCS in a way that very few could. While we are mourning his going to his heavenly home, we can be rest assured that God said well done good and faithful servant. Howie will be missed but we will see him again when we join him in heaven.
Howie is the best man I have ever known. He exuded the presence of God in everything he did. He always put everyone at ease and he was always focused on everyone except himself. Howie took Jesus’ two commands seriously, Love God and Love your neighbor. Whenever I had the pleasure of being in his presence, whether teaching or coaching or playing or praying, I left with a fresh revelation of God’s holiness and love. Howie was truly a vehicle through which God revealed himself to man. All of the arrows in his life pointed to God, not a single arrow pointed at Howie. I cannot say that of many men. I will miss Howie immensely but he will always be in my heart, in all the places that God touched, softened, strengthened, and fashioned through his vessel - Howie Holmes. Every time we ever parted, we would hug and say, “I love you man.” We are parted now for a time, and I just want to say, “I love you man.” I look forwarded to the day we are reunited in the presence of our Savior.
Rarely do we meet such a uniquely wonderful person whose heart was so full of evident love for his students and whose amazing brain so full of knowledge. All five of our children were blessed to know "Mr Holmes" while at Fredericksburg Christian School and he left an indelible mark on each one. We enjoyed our parent/teacher meetings and as an example of Howie's constant desire to help his students learn he allowed our daughter Molly, who loves to draw, to provide her answers to biology questions by sketching them out to demonstrate she understood what he was teaching. He even remarked later he was keeping her drawings as he was so impressed with them. Not every teacher would reshape the rules that much to fit a student's preferred method of learning, but then again Mr Holmes was not every teacher. Our family will cherish the times we had with him and pray our Lord will comfort his family and give strength and peace for such a time as this. Howie left us much too early but we know we'll all meet again in God's perfect timing.
Dan & Sharon Donehey
Teachers are important for what they do in the classroom. Their teaching of skills and material that you will remember for the rest of your life cannot be overstated. However, sometimes it is more what happens beyond the classroom that makes the life-long connection between a teacher and a student. This was the case for Howie Holmes, myself, and my cohort of fellow students and ballplayers. As a transfer student into Fredericksburg Christian High School in my tenth grade year of high school, I was in need of friends and connections. With a broken leg and a shy personality, life at FCHS was tough at first. My shell was broken by Mr. Holmes and his infectious personality- in Biology class and then on the baseball field. I can recall one particular experiment with dry ice and hot dogs, we could actually still eat the hot dogs!, that just blew me away. Mr. Holmes made learning about Biology interesting and exciting.
That year Mr. Holmes and our class founded the FCHS baseball team. Our group, plus Mr. Holmes, established a ragtag group of traveling hardball players. We had a great time on the van and off, developed as players, and lost a lot. The losing didn’t matter, the time with Mr. Holmes, the discussions and even sometimes arguments(on my part) created great connections. Those connections bled over into basketball season. Mr. Holmes was also our coach for basketball and most of our same group signed up for hoops. The bonds we created on the practice court kept us going as we played teams that were better than us on the court. We knew Mr. Holmes loved us and was doing everything he could to make us better ball players and people, even though we weren’t particularly good listeners.
For me, it wasn’t just all the time on the court or in the classroom, though Mr. Holmes was so giving of his time. Driving an hour each way to attend school at FCHS had it’s ups and downs. Lots of time to listen to the radio was a plus, driving home at night after basketball practice was a negative. Thankfully, Mr. Holmes opened up his home to me whenever I needed a place to crash after a late practice or game. I can honestly say that watching “Far And Away” with Mr. Holmes and his family was one of the more interesting moments of my high school experience.
The news of Mr. Holmes passing hit like a hammer. He was a mentor and a friend to my friends and I, and a teacher and coach who will never ever be forgotten.- Jonathan M. Whitehead
What a blessing to have been pastored by our earthly shepherd, Howie. We thank the Lord for the time he gave us Howie and we will always remember to keep the real thing, the real thing and share the love of Christ with those the good Lord places in our path on a daily basis. Howie, you were always late because you were serving so many, but you were always there!! You will be greatly missed. God wanted your sweet company and we know He is giving you much needed rest! Paul and Ginger Callahan
