David Lynn Holmes

Holmes, David Lynn – Professor Holmes, as he was known to generations of William & Mary
students, always had a story to tell. “Incidentally,” he would say when a conversation prompted a
recollection, then launch into an animated anecdote or history lesson that frequently left the
professor in stitches – and his interlocutor genuinely enlightened. Holmes was intellectual,
inquisitive, and gregarious, brandishing his wry humor til the end. He died at age 90 in
Williamsburg, VA, on April 29, 2023.
Holmes, a nationally recognized church historian, will be remembered as one of William &
Mary’s “greats” – an eminently knowledgeable and inspired lecturer, possessed with a drive to
advise and a penchant for pranks. His legendary 46-year tenure permitted him to teach more than
one generation within a family of alumni. He authored numerous books – including The Faiths of
the Founding Fathers and, most recently, Glimpses of a Public Ivy: 50 Years of William & Mary
– and won many teaching awards, including the College’s highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson
Award. Holmes, who received his doctorate in Religious Studies from Princeton and studied
theology at Duke Divinity and at Union Theological Seminary, was sometimes asked whether he
had considered ordination for the ministry. He opined that college teaching was a religious
calling for him.
Professor Holmes’ students were challenged with more than the usual exams and papers. He
became known for dividing his classes into small groups, each of which would together study,
visit and write about locations in Virginia – a colonial church, an abandoned early settlement, or
perhaps the churches and architecture of a small Victorian town. He personally graded exams
and papers; an “A” from Holmes was very well-earned. He knew his students as individuals,
freely providing guidance that extended beyond their college and even graduate education.
Holmes proudly revived the Bishop Madison Society – William & Mary’s “Skull and Bones” –
which was founded in 1812 by a group of luminary alumni to host lectures, debates, and social
interaction among students, faculty and alumni. He relished meeting new people and learning
their life stories, unpacking with incisive questions what made them tick.
At his retirement speech in 2011, Holmes urged us “to love God or whatever high ideals we put
in that place and to love our families and our friends and our neighbors…and to be impatient of
artificialities and trivialities…and to take no notice of the evil done against us…and to be
just…to be compassionate…to be kind…to be as wonderfully generous as our nature permits.”
David Lynn Holmes was born Aug. 28, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan. His father, also David L.
Holmes, served as Athletic Director at Detroit’s Wayne State University. His “fast-minded”
mother, Hazel Jean Madden Holmes, was a high school math teacher. After graduating from
Michigan State University, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served two years active duty
and then in the reserves while pursuing his Master’s in English at Columbia. He is survived by
his wife of 55 years, Carolyn Coggin Holmes; by daughter Henley Holmes Vazquez, son-in-law
Xabier Vazquez, and their children, Kai, Nicolas, and Nola; by his daughter Catesby Coggin
Holmes and husband Gregory David Morril, and their daughter, Madden; by his nephew, Keith
David Wunderlich, and wife, Mary; and by numerous Michigan cousins.
If Professor David L. Holmes has departed this life, then where has he gone? He concluded a
lecture given for the Bishop Madison Society in March 2010 with these words: “Finally, I would
be hopeful about death. Throughout the years, I would live as if life continued after death – and I
would not be surprised to find that it did.”
A memorial celebration of life is planned for Saturday, July 15 at Bruton Parish Episcopal
Church in Williamsburg at 1 PM. William & Mary’s Swem Library maintains a rich collection of
the writings, lectures, and correspondence of Professor Holmes.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to the David L.
Holmes Reformation Studies and American Religious History Endowment (3447), which
supports a professorship at William & Mary. Checks should be made payable to the William &
Mary Foundation/Holmes at P.O. Box 1693, Williamsburg, VA 23187. Please designate the gift
is in memory of David L. Holmes. Credit card payments are accepted
through https://impact.wm.edu/holmes.