Cecil Lyle Holmes

Cecil Lyle Holmes was born to James Otto Holmes and Eva Mae Walt Holmes on September 30, 1925 in Gove County, Kansas, the third of four children. June of 1935 the family moved to the Deer Park area of Boundary County. He attended the Copeland School graduating from Bonners Ferry High School in 1943. He was drafted into the United States Army in November 1943. He trained at Camp Roberts and served as a medic with the 33 ^rd Infantry Division in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II, returning to the United States February 1946.

On February 14, 1947, he married Barbara Ann Starkey. They lived on the Bonners Ferry Northside while he worked as a small engine and chainsaw repairman for Winston Cook and Raymond Houck at Cook’s Battery & Electric and Barbara worked at Edmundson’s Variety Store. After two years they moved to the Pine Creek/Yaak River area near Troy, Montana.  Cecelia Ann was born on November 5, 1949. Soon afterward, due to the Korean Conflict, Cecil was recalled to the Army as a sergeant in the Fort Ord Hospital Emergency Receiving Office and they moved to Fort Ord, California where Donald Lyle was born on December 13, 1950.

In August 1951 they moved back to Montana. Cecil worked for Orval Nichols on the construction of the new (current) Highway 2 between Moyie Springs, ID and Troy, MT. He also worked in his brother Ed’s sawmill, making posts and firewood, and cutting Christmas trees.

In 1955 he went back to work for Cook’s Battery & Electric and moved to the Paradise Valley area near Bonners Ferry. In 1973 Cecil partnered with Bob and Frank Spalding to buy Cook’s Battery & Electric changing the name to SS&H, Inc. They divided the business into two businesses, South Hill Saw Service and SS&H, Inc., eventually moving both out of downtown Bonners Ferry to the South Hill.

Barbara suddenly passed away from a heart attack on February 20, 1986. On September 6, 1986, he married Gladys Wycoff Brewer. He continued working with Frank Spalding in South Hill Saw Service and Gladys joined Ione Spalding and Anna May Spalding working in SS&H with Bob Spalding.

Cecil and Gladys became snowbirds, traveling to Yuma in motorhomes, then a fifth wheel, and eventually buying a winter home there. They moved to Spokane, WA to be closer to heart specialists for Gladys’s health and to live closer to Cecil’s children and their families. In early 2011 they sold their Spokane home and moved into Orchard Crest Retirement Community. On January 17, 2012, Gladys passed away due to heart failure. Cecil continued to live in Orchard Crest until his death Sunday, October 3, 2021.

Cecil enjoyed dancing (that’s how he met Barbara), playing cards and outdoor games, visiting with family and friends, and working on his land in Paradise Valley (especially the back five acres where he sawed wood and cleaned the underbrush).

He was preceded in death by his parents; granddaughter, Sheilla Holmes; his wives; and his siblings, Ed and Dorothy Holmes, Larena and John Daniel, and Ramona and Gale Plato, and numerous nieces & nephews.

He is survived by daughter, Cecelia (Mike); son, Don; grandchildren: Rob Stephens (Kelly), Michelle Fox (Andy), Derek Holmes (Jessica), Lance Holmes, Clayton Holmes; and great grandchildren: Christine and Natalie Stephens; Cooper, Madison, Zander, and Sofia Fox; Aiden, Ethan, and Jocelyn Holmes; Sage, Andrew, and Hazel Holmes.

Cecil will be laid to rest at Grandview Cemetery. The family plans a private service at a later date. His family truly appreciates all his friends and relatives who loved him so dearly.