Colonel Ronald C. "Pete" Vines Sr.

1934 - 2025

Colonel (Ret.) Ronald C. "Pete" Vines, Sr., 91, of Amelia Island, FL, passed away on September 5, 2025, after being together with loving friends and family. Born on August 2, 1934, in Hinton, WV, Pete was a career Army officer. He entered the Army in 1954 as a private and retired in 1982 as a colonel. Pete graduated from St. Benedict's College in Atchison, KS, and the US Navy War College in Newport, RI. His military service included one tour in Korea and two in Vietnam, as well as 23 relocations. Pete was both a helicopter and fixed wing pilot, and his favorite flying was during an assignment to Alaska where he was able to traverse the Arctic with its beauty and wildlife and land on Denali. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf clusters, the Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf clusters, and a Legion of Merit for Valor and Combat.
Pete retired from the Army in Springfield, VA. There he pursued his interest in horticulture and began hybridizing azaleas. His "nursery" was on a mere third of an acre that surrounded his home, and he sold named azaleas, as well as his own hybrids. He called his azaleas the Holly Springs Hybrids, named after Holly Springs, MS, a picturesque antebellum town near the University of Mississippi, which he attended. The Holly Springs Hybrids are a collection of relatively small, late-blooming, evergreen azaleas. Pete continued hybridizing azaleas even after moving to Amelia Island.
In May 2022, a legacy garden was opened at Jenkins Arboretum in Chester County, PA, for the nearly 100 Holly Springs Hybrids. A legacy garden preserves and celebrates the cultivars from an individual hybridizer. This garden was designed by Hamilton Horticulture Apprentice Jacob Summers in 2021. The azaleas planted in this garden were preserved through a generous partnership with the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Azalea Society of America with specific recognition to Dave and Leslie Nanney, Paul and Carolyn Beck, and Rick and Susan Bauer.
Pete was preceded in death by his parents, Woodrow Wilson and Virginia Webb Vines, and by his wife of 52 years, Wilma "Peggy" Walker Vines. He is survived by his children and their spouses, Rebecca and Charles Jenkins, Ronald C. and Jaclynn Vines Jr., and Jeffery A. and Theresa Vines. In addition, he is survived by five granddaughters: Dawn Jenkins-Wong and her husband Derek, Lauren Jenkins, Charlotte Jenkins, Morgan Vines Fecteau and her husband Alec, and Jessica Vines Custis and her husband Mark, and four great grandchildren. Surviving siblings include Dr. Frederick S. Vines and his wife Cheryl and Catherine Vines.
A celebration of life will be held on Thursday, October 23 at Baxter's Restaurant located at 4919 1st Coast Hwy, Fernandina Beach, FL, from 5 to 7 PM and is open to all. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. Memorials can be made to Jenkins Arboretum and Gardens, 631 Berwyn Baptist Road, Devon, PA 19333 or online at https://www.jenkinsarboretum.org/support/ -scrolling down to Memorial or Tribute to click on the "Honor" button.