John Porter Holmes Jr.

John Porter Holmes, Jr., 66, of Yarmouth died October 1st, 2017, with his family at his side in the Bettsanne Holmes wing (named in honor of his late aunt) at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough, following complications from cardiac arrest while fishing with friends the previous week.

He was born on June 18, 1951, in Portland, ME and prepared for college at Waynflete High School and Hebron Academy. He attended Babson College, where he majored in Business Administration, preparing himself to join the family business Commercial Distributors, a longtime fixture in Portland founded by his grandfather Herbert S. Holmes, working there with his father John senior and uncle Herbert junior. When that firm closed, he went on to open a couple of successful businesses of his own, finally settling on the one he truly loved in Gulf of Maine Yacht Sales. This combined two of his true passions: time spent on the water and extensive boating knowledge.

Another passion was exploring the many lesser-known historical or just-plain-unique Maine attractions: to experience them, speak to the people attending, and, most importantly, to photograph and photo-journal (with comment) such experiences for sending to his family and many friends. If one was fortunate enough to be on his distribution list, there would be a prime viewing for annual lobster boat races; record Down East snowfalls; scenic harbingers of spring; endless boat shows; behind-the-scenes in boat builders’ workshops; boats for sale to include both splendid yachts and cringe-inducing crafts of questionable sea-

worthiness; and, yes -- many fishing trips.

Mr. Holmes was a long-time member of both the Portland Yacht Club and the Cumberland Club. Additionally, his membership in the Know-Nothings, an informal weekly gathering of retired community leaders that gathered at those clubs and elsewhere, gave him great satisfaction. His cadre of close friends, warmly known as the Cousins River Ale and Bivalve Society (CRABS), sustained one another for almost four decades with all of life’s passages – weddings, births of children and grandchildren, parents’ deaths, and career transitions. He was known as someone upon whom his trusted friends could rely (once helping a fellow CRABS assist the Coast Guard in floating a fishing vessel off the Cushing’s Island ledges at two in the morning).

He is survived by his beloved wife of 44 years, Joanne (“Jaci”) C. Holmes of Yarmouth; two children, John Porter Holmes III (Meghan) of Flowery Branch, GA and Ashley Holmes Gilbert (Jeffrey) of Saco, ME; two grandchildren, Hannah Elizabeth Holmes and Kipton Jillian Gilbert; half-sister, Terri Holmes Kemp of Yarmouth; step-mother, Beth Norris Holmes of Portland; step-sister Betsy Greenlaw of Portland; brother-in-law, Henry Fowle (Catharine) of Churchview, VA; and cousins Heather Holmes Floyd (Bill) and of Boston, MA and Bethany Holmes Frank (Lanier) of Washington, D.C.

A service of celebration will be held on Saturday, October 14th at the First Parish Unitarian Church (425 Congress St, Portland, ME) at 2 p.m. A private interment will be held at Pine Grove Cemetery, Falmouth.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations be made to the Maine Island Trail Association at 100 Kensington St, 2nd Floor, Portland, ME or Maine Maritime Museum, 243 Washington Street, Bath, ME.

Please visit www.lindquistfuneralhome.com for additional information and to sign John’s online guest book.