lit a candle 14d agomy mom called me about this one, she was a pediatric nurse in the 70s and said women like Carolyn never got any recognition for that work. 82 years old, married 59 years to the same man. that part got me more than anything.
Their story
Carolyn Jean DeVoy Holmes was a pediatric nurse, children's music educator and devoted homemaker whose life was defined less by public fame than by decades of quiet care for children, family and the two church communities she belonged to in North Carolina and South Carolina. She died on October 9,…
Carolyn Jean DeVoy Holmes was a pediatric nurse, children's music educator and devoted homemaker whose life was defined less by public fame than by decades of quiet care for children, family and the two church communities she belonged to in North Carolina and South Carolina. She died on October 9, 2026, at her home in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, at the age of 82.
She was born on June 1, 1944, in Rochester, New York, the daughter of Francis Stanley DeVoy and Helen Shirley Keeler DeVoy. She graduated from Irondequoit High School in Rochester and went on to Russell Sage College in Troy, New York, where she earned her degree in 1966. She trained and worked as a pediatric nurse in Rochester and later in Boston before stepping away from paid nursing to raise her family full time.
For 47 years Carolyn and her husband made their home in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was an active member of Myers Park Baptist Church, now known as Myers Park Covenant Church. In later years the couple moved to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, where she was welcomed into the community of Providence Church on Daniel Island and sang in its choir. Those who knew her described her as a natural caregiver, often called a baby whisperer, who went on to work as a children's music educator, combining her nursing background with a gift for soothing and teaching the very young. Outside of her work with children she enjoyed sewing, knitting, swimming, walking and traveling with her family.
Carolyn's death matters most to those who knew her personally rather than to the wider public: her husband of 59 years, her children, her grandchildren and the two church congregations where she spent much of her adult life. Her passing was announced through an obituary published by the Charleston Post and Courier and Legacy.com, which stated that she died peacefully at home surrounded by her family, from complications of Parkinsonism.
She is survived by her husband, Thomas Leroy Holmes of Mount Pleasant, and by three children: Wendy Holmes Nugent of Hamilton, New York, Amy Holmes Mendez of San Francisco, California, and Andrew DeVoy Holmes of Alexandria, Virginia. She is also survived by four grandchildren, Alex Tomas Mendez, Lowell James Nugent, Claudia Frances Mendez and Asher Burton Holmes. She was preceded in death by her sister, Susan Gail DeVoy Efaw.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by Post and Courier.
That's a sweet thing for your mom to call about.