Obituary of Ellen Holmes

Holmes, Ellen Zeigler Fairport: Passed away after 93 years, on August 24, 2014 at home on the Holmes Hollow Farm. Ellen was born on 12/9/1920 in Gary Indiana to Fred Sharp Zeigler and Esther Stevenson Zeigler. Predeceased by her husband of 68 years, Robert Wallace Holmes, by her sister Elizabeth Annette Zeigler Bell of Houston, TX, and by her great grandson Vincent Wing Seun Stringer of Mililani, HI. Survived by brother Edward Zeigler (Sandi) of Longmont, CO and sister Ruby Ann Zeigler Stark (Robert) of Chesapeake, VA ; children Catherine Clark (Ward) of Townsend MA, Elizabeth of Perinton, Robert Bruce (Martha Schwartz) of Fairport, Barbara (Andrew Fowler) of Perinton, and Norman (Linda Nagy) of Manila in the Philippines; eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Ellen was an honor student at Purdue University, where she received a BS in Civil Engineering and met Robert Holmes. After their marriage in 1942, they lived in Oak Park, Illinois. She worked at Johns Manville for a short time and then had 5 children. In 1955, the family moved to Rochester, and then in 1959 to a small farm south of Fairport. There they planted evergreen trees and began rebuilding the house. Ellen started building what is now an extensive garden surrounding the house. They started selling cut-your-own Christmas trees in 1965. To help pay for five college educations, Ellen went back to work at Lozier Architects and Engineers, and participated in the design of Rochester's deep rock waste water tunnel system. Her income also helped support their favorite pastime of traveling and vacationing with their family. Ellen was a long-time member of the Sibley chapter of the Rochester YWCA and an active member of the Asbury First United Methodist Church for 60 years. A memorial service will be held at a future date. Memorial contributions may be made to Asbury First United Methodist Church memorial fund, 1050 East Ave, Rochester, NY 14607, or to the Rochester YWCA, 175 N Clinton Ave, Rochester, NY 14604