Lawrence Holmes

Lawrence Holmes, age 96, died Sunday, March 29, 2026 at The Crossing in Searcy. Born June 12, 1929, he was a lifelong resident of Judsonia and was the son of Harvey and Alpha Hilton Holmes. As a child growing up, he worked in his dad's dry-cleaning business and grocery store/café. Lawrence was a 1948 graduate of Judsonia High School and was active in all sports and continued to play independent basketball in the area. On January 15, 1951, Lawrence was drafted at the age of 21 years, to serve in the U.S. Army and did his basic training at Camp Chaffee in Fort Smith, during the Korean War. He was tasked with training other recruits to use and shoot 105 artillery and also how to drive the large army trucks to pull the artillery. On November 8, 1952, Lawrence married Mouhee Varnell, also a native of Judsonia; and they had three children, Gail, Rickey & Greg. He worked for AP&L, now Entergy, for approximately 26 years on a transmission crew around the state of Arkansas, serving as foreman from 1967 until his retirement.Together they raised their family on a farm, while growing cattle, hogs, chickens, etc. and later soybeans, milo, wheat and oats. He was a Christian and worshiped regularly at First Baptist Church of Judsonia where he was baptized March 27, 1966. He spoke fondly of his participation in the Andrew Team Visitation Program at church through the years. Lawrence retired from AP&L in 1984 at the age of 55; enjoying gardening, camping, hunting and fishing with his wife. He also enjoyed hosting fish frys for many years for the crew he worked with at AP&L; attending the annual noon meetings for Entergy Retirees and also attending the Judsonia High School Reunions held every three years, where he was recognized as one of the oldest attending alumni in 2024. He was honored by the City of Judsonia as Outstanding Community Member at the July 4th Celebration in 2024.

Lawrence is survived by his daughter, Gail (Drew) Carpenter, and two sons, Rickey (Linda) Holmes and Greg (Wanda) Holmes, all of Judsonia; and grandchildren, Stacy (Darren) Gordon, Eric (Katie) Holmes, Laura (Clayton) Johnston, and great-grandchildren, Weston, Braxton and Emery Gordon, Ethan and Logan Holmes, and Jack and Claire Johnston, and a sister, Pat Holmes Vaughn of Virginia. He is preceded in death by his parents, one grandchild, Charles Lawrence Carpenter, and siblings, Hilton Holmes, Nancy Taylor and Bonna Lea Edwards.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, April 1, at Judsonia First Baptist Church at 10:00 a.m.with the memorial service at 11:00. A private interment will be held at a later date at Evergreen Cemetery in Judsonia. Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 427, Judsonia, Arkansas 72081.