Ervine Stout Holmes

Ervine Stout Holmes was born April 29, 1934 to the late Ervine and Irene (Stout) Holmes, in Ogdensburg, NY. They called him Sonny. Sonny grew up surrounded by a large family, including many cousins that he had to share his toys with even though he was an only child. He didn't like sharing his toys and would often hide them. Despite that, Sonny remained close to his cousins and enjoyed traveling to see them later in life. Sonny always held a deep connection to his family and the area that he grew up in, part city and part farmlands. In later years, when Erv and Joan traveled back home to Ogdensburg, Erv's parents would always have family and friends over to enjoy a happy hour and play pinochle.

Throughout Erv's early years he kept busy with sports, and in high school he was also involved in debate, student government, drama, and sang in chorus. After being awarded the Newell Scholarship, Erv attended Williams College in Massachusetts. At Williams, Erv played football, joined a fraternity, and managed the hockey team. He graduated with a degree in Chemistry, and always had a love of numbers and statistics, including keeping track of the weights of his grandchildren throughout the first year of their lives. After Erv graduated from Williams, he stayed connected to his college buddies, and attended many reunions.

Following college, Erv enlisted in the Army and served in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in a unit that was establishing a radar station to monitor the coast for foreign ships and planes. The skills he demonstrated in football games between squads caught the attention of his Sargent, and the Sargent promoted Erv to Clerk. This also allowed him the privilege of driving a Jeep to leave the base and go on errands. Once his tour of duty ended, Erv moved to Buffalo, NY where he lived with family and was hired by the Union Carbide Corporation. His work focused on molecular sieves, and setting up chemical processing plants for the oil industry. During his 38 years at Carbide/UOP, he was awarded 7 patents, published papers, presented at international conferences, traveled all over the world, and eventually retired as a senior engineering manager. Erv made lifelong friends both in the Army and at work. People whom he would laugh with and celebrate life with for many, many years. Erv met the love of his life, Joan Gugino, at Carbide in 1961. They went to a work holiday party in December and a group ski outing in January. Erv was smitten with Joan, and they started dating. Towards the end of May, Erv told Joan he thought they should get married, and she said okay. A week later, he gave her his checkbook to pay his bills because he was leaving for a 6 month work project in Texas. Erv returned to New York in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with his fiancee and their families, and get married two days later. In their nearly 63 years together, Erv always made sure that Joan had fresh flowers around the house. After they moved to Yorktown, NY, Erv and Joan joined bowling leagues, belonged to CFM (a church group that convened monthly to debate current affairs), played countless bridge and card games with friends, played tennis together - doubles but also singles, hosted parties, picknicked, camped, and skied with friends, traveled to many cities and countries, spent Father's Day weekend with their kids and grandkids at Sunny Hill Golf resort, went on family vacations to Ocean City, NJ, and had many adventures while wintering in Florida. Erv and Joan have 3 daughters: Gwen Burke, Pam Loscher (Chris), and Stephany Holmes (Ed Winegard).

They have 11 grandchildren: Krista, Johnny, and Jessica Burke; Jack, Daniel, Haley, Tyler (Becky), and Chris Loscher (Peter Beaumont); and Elijah, Annalese, and MacGregor Winegard; and 1 great granddaughter (Lucy Loscher). The other two loves of Erv's life were sports and service. Erv had an all encompassing interest in sports. He could cite statistics about almost any team. He watched Buffalo Bills games with his wife, his daughter Gwen, and friends. He watched basketball, baseball, and hockey with his grandsons and sons-in-law. Erv skied, danced, bowled, jogged, and played pool, football, baseball, softball, tennis, and golf. Erv coached his daughters' basketball teams, and refereed over 1,000 youth soccer games for AYSO. He followed the local high schools' sports teams. Erv attended his kids' and grandkids' school and sporting events.

At one time, Erv was President of the school board, and was also a dedicated member of the Knights of Columbus, eventually serving as Supreme Knight of the Father Mooney Council. He enjoyed listening to big band music and country music, and sang in the contemporary music group at St. John's church. Erv's favorite foods included cider donuts, vanilla ice cream, fill cookies, and dump cake. And McDonald's. At the McDonald's in Mahopac, NY, Erv was recognized as 'Customer of the Year', and his picture hung on the wall for twelve months. Erv loved his family, and had so many friends that he cherished, and told so many stories about his life experiences with them. Erv was very grateful, and felt very lucky, for the life that he lived, the people he knew, and the opportunities that he had. Erv passed away on September 2, 2025 at home surrounded by his family, just the way he wanted to. He was 91.

Donations, in lieu of flowers, can be made in memory of Ervine Holmes to myasthenia.org

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, September 9, 2025 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Cargain Funeral Homes, Inc., 418 Route 6 (GPS US-6), Mahopac, NY.

A Mass of Christian Burial to honor and celebrate Ervine's life will take place at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at St. John the Evangelist Church, 221 East Lake Boulevard, Mahopac, NY.

Private cremation will follow.

Funeral arrangements entrusted to Cargain Funeral Homes, Inc., 418 Route 6, Mahopac, NY 10541, 845-628-5655, www.cargainfuneralhomes.com.

We at Cargain Funeral Homes, Inc. are deeply committed to responsibly responding to the health, well-being, and needs of the families, guests and communities we are privileged to serve.