Dorothy Holmes, secretary
Dorothy Marie “Dot” Holmes, a retired State of Maryland office financial supervisor and church leader, died of cancer complications Dec. 3 at Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care at Northwest Hospital Center. She was 76 and lived in Pikesville.
Born in Hamilton, N.C., she was the daughter of Johnnie Bullock, a farmer and auto mechanic, and his wife, Hattie, a homemaker and nurse’s aide. She was a 1960 graduate of West Martin High School. She received a diploma in secretarial skills from New York Technical College in New York. She also studied at Anne Arundel Community College and at the Full Gospel Bible Institute.
She was a secretary for the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center at Greenmount Avenue and Madison streets. She retired in 2007 as a fiscal supervisor for the Maryland Geological Survey on St. Paul Street.
While employed at classification center, she met her future husband, a correctional officer and sergeant, Robert E. Holmes Jr.
She was an active member of Full Gospel Fellowship Church of Deliverance. She had served as its administrator, finance director, Bible study and Sunday school teacher and women’s department head. She also established and managed the congrega- tion’s Nursing Home Ministry and a program for holiday food and clothing for the needy.
She was administrative assistant and payroll clerk for Project Success Youth Center, a nonprofit operated by her church.
Mrs. Holmes was named a church deacon and ordained to the office of missionary.
She was also a seamstress and an Avon sales representative, and she led a Girl Scouts troop. An accomplished cook. she made pastas, spaghetti and Southern dishes.
“She made sure that everyone was able to attend church services by packing her car far beyond capacity,” said her son, Derrick Bullock of Pikesville. “She even made repeat trips. Her motto was ‘Never quit.’ ”
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Full Gospel Fellowship Church, 5011 Park Heights Ave.
In addition to her son, survivors include a daughter, Danielle Holmes of Pikesville; a brother, Joshua Bullock of Hamilton, N.C.; five sisters, Mary Jackson of Mount Vernon, N.Y., Annie Jones of Hamilton, Hattie Dailey of Randallstown, Violene Bullock of Pikesville and Lelia Brown of Chicago. Her husband of 18 years died 2017.