Gary Holmes' Obituary
Gary K. Holmes, 70, of Asheville, NC, peacefully passed away on December 29, 2025.
Gary lived an amazingly rich and full life, beginning in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and taking him to Chapel Hill, NC, Atlanta, GA, Greensboro, NC, Miami, FL, Philadelphia, PA, and ultimately Western North Carolina. In each place he called home, Gary built meaningful connections and left a lasting impact on the people around him.
Gary’s career path began in the restaurants and bars around Chapel Hill, including Darryl’s and Four Corners. He enjoyed managing restaurants and bars and took great pride in training people to become skilled servers and bartenders. In the mid-1980s, in South Florida, Gary changed careers and became a sales representative for Minolta Business Systems. His success with Minolta earned him a promotion to sales manager in Philadelphia, PA, where he was part of the team opened a new branch. He was proud to earn Minolta President’s Club award, year after year.
Gary’s move to Philadelphia opened the door to meet the love of his life, Tina Tursi, whom he later married. They met in 1991 and were inseparable for more than 34 years, lovingly known to family and friends simply as “Gary and Tina.”
Gary is survived by his wife, Tina Tursi Holmes, of Asheville, NC; his many loving nieces and nephews; his sisters, Carol Dillard of Raleigh, NC, and Dawn Holmes of Tennessee; and his brothers, Williams Holmes of Youngsville, NC, and Chris Holmes of Fayetteville, NC. Gary was preceded in death by his parents, Alda Cox and T.N. Holmes, Jr., and his sister, Cheryl Holmes.
He will be remembered for his warm spirit, his dedication to those he mentored and worked with, and the deep love and loyalty he showed to his family and friends. His presence will be deeply missed and his memory cherished by his Sigma Chi brothers, trusted friends, God children, and so many people he worked with over the years.
A faith-based memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, February 7th at 1:00 p.m. Family and friends are invited to attend the service at the family church, Barbecue Presbyterian Church, 53 Dodson Road, Sanford, NC. https://www.barbecuech1758.org/
To honor Gary, memorial donations can be made in his name to
Four Seasons Foundation https://fourseasonsfdn.org/ways-to-give/give-today/, as a thank to the Fours Seasons Palliative and Hospice team for the excellent care.
and/or Manna Food Bank https://mannafoodbank.org/how-you-can-help/donate/, because Gary loved feeding people.
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