Joseph Wesley Holmes

Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he was a city boy for most of his early childhood, splitting time between Grand Rapids and Muskegon. While in Grand Rapids, Joe attended St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, where he served as an altar boy. Some of his happiest childhood memories, however, were the two years he spent on the dairy farm of his grandmother, Mary Ducett Bessette McDunn, and her husband, Thomas, in Barnesville, Minnesota. Joe woke early for the rest of his life because of it—and never lost his love of a big breakfast, whether he was cooking it himself, ordering it at a diner, or, in his final years, having his caregivers make it for him.

Joe left high school without a diploma, but his curiosity drove him to keep reading and learning. Two days after his seventeenth birthday, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in occupied Germany. After returning home, he worked as a truck driver and as a spot welder at Steelcase. A few years later, with encouragement from his brother-in-law Jim White, he took and passed a college entrance exam. He went on to study at Graceland College and then to Michigan State University where he earned his undergraduate degree and a Master of Social Work, both with honors. He helped establish the Beta Chapter of the Phi Alpha Honor Society at Michigan State University and served as its first president.

His curiosity took him to adventures all over. After seeing a National Geographic article about the new state of Alaska, he decided it was worth exploring and talked Barbara into making the move. Together they spent a few wonderful years there, making lifelong friends. That adventurous spirit carried them from Alaska to Oklahoma to Washington, D.C., to the mountains of Virginia, to Florida, and finally to Texas—always together, wherever Joe felt he could do the most good.

He devoted his career to child welfare, most significantly with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. As a social worker in Alaska, he rode in seaplanes to remote Native villages, slept on schoolhouse floors, and was sometimes greeted by packs of village dogs. In 1978, he was one of the primary authors of the federal regulations implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act, helping translate the law’s principles into enforceable policy protecting the rights of Native American tribes to keep their children and families together. He received a federal citation for meritorious service. In June 2023, at age 91, he lived to see the U.S. Supreme Court uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act as implemented, affirming the work he had helped build forty-five years earlier.

Joe was a gifted storyteller and voracious reader, with a warm sense of humor. Later in life, he declared the Amazon Kindle the greatest invention known to man—and whenever anyone in the family got some new gadget, he had to know all about it and get one too. He loved to tell tales from his time in Alaska, from his years in the U.S. Army in occupied Germany, and from his own family history. In recent years, younger family members sought him out to hear these stories, and many have said how much they treasured that time with him. He understood that sharing stories is how you keep people connected.

From 2009 to 2013, Joe threw himself into a new role: band grandpa. When his grandson Justin joined the Cedar Park High School band, Joe went to every football game and most competitions, volunteering on the food committee and loving every minute of it. A wider audience of people got to know “JoeHolmes”—one word, the way his colleagues always said it.

On September 15, 1956, Joe married Barbara Cole, beginning a partnership that would span nearly seventy years. She was his companion in every adventure.

Joe was the only son of Daniel Wesley “Wes” Holmes and Jeanette “Janet” Elaine Bessette, both of whom predeceased him. He was also predeceased by his stepfather, George Roose Sr.; his half-brothers, George Roose Jr. and David Roose; brothers-in-law Stephen Jacobitz and James White; and sisters-in-law Jacquelyn Roose, Sarn Roose, and Marjorie Cole White.

He is survived by his wife, Barbara Cole Holmes; daughter, Tracey Holmes Marcelo; grandson, Justin Marcelo; half-sisters, Judy Roose Nienhuis (Larry) and Susan Roose Storey (Howard); brother-in-law, Lawrence Cole (Ruth); sister-in-law, Patricia Cole Jacobitz; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Joe loved people. He was curious about their lives, their stories, their gadgets, their children. He spent his career protecting families and his retirement enjoying his own. He leaves behind a law that bears his fingerprints, a family that will miss his breakfast invitations, and a lot of people who are better off because Joe Holmes was curious about them.

A graveside service will be held at a later date at Woodlawn Cemetery West in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Joe’s memory to organizations serving children and families in communities where he lived, such as:

Sealaska Heritage Institute (Alaska)

https://sealaskaheritage.org/giving/

CASA of Williamson County (Texas)

https://casawilliamson.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/casawilliamson/donation.jsp

Lonesome Pine Office on Youth (CASA) (Virginia)

http://lonesomepineofficeonyouth.org/casa.htm

CASA of Kent County (Michigan)

https://casakentco.org/