Former lawmaker Susan Holmes was a force in Republican politics

Phillip Jordan, owner of the funeral home that handled her arrangements, said Holmes called him to her bedside just before her death.

“She said she didn’t want any preaching at her funeral, you know how some preachers start trying to save people at a funeral. She wanted none of that,” he said.

But she wasn’t being mean spirited or petty, quite the contrary.

“She was that rare breed in an elected official,” said longtime friend Michael Brewer, the deputy manager of Butts County. “I honestly think everything she did, she did for the benefit of her community and the state.”

Holmes died of acute renal failure April 30 at age 82. A memorial service was held May 2.

She started a career as a teacher, became the Monticello postmaster, then an insurance company CFO. Her desire for service and influence on a wider stage led to her election as Monticello’s first woman mayor in 1998. It was an inflection point.

“She told me that the older ladies in town would say ‘Why do you want to run for that, it’s a man’s job,’” said Stone Workman, who served on the City Council at the same time.

Holmes proved the naysayers wrong.

The mayoral gig was largely ceremonial with little voting power, but she parlayed it into a bully pulpit for civic improvements, forging solutions on such challenges as reviving the town square and preserving the city’s water supply during drought.

“Her goal was simply to seek solutions to problems,” said son Sam Holmes, Sr., at her memorial service. “She was very interested in building consensus about the issues facing our state.”

That she did, say family and friends, both during 12 years holding the mayor’s gavel and later as a six-term member of the Georgia House, representing Jasper and parts of three neighboring counties. And before her time in the House, Holmes served as state executive director of the Farm Service Agency — appointed by President George H.W. Bush. It oversees credit programs and disaster assistance for Georgia farmers.

Under the Gold Dome, she turned her attention to education and bringing opportunity to rural Georgia, both notions born out of her time in the classroom and at her family’s business.

Working with lawmakers and as head of the Rural Development Council, she brought together stakeholders, then watched as Georgia Electric Membership cooperatives established rural broadband programs, giving students and educators faster downloads. The upgraded technology also attracted new business to rural areas.

And from the unintended consequences department:

When the COVID panic started in 2020, “If there had not been the advancement in cellular and internet service, how would these young people have had any education during the stay-at-home period?” asked her son.

A staunch Republican, Holmes worked to boost the party’s fortunes in the state while winning plaudits from both sides of the aisle for her practical approach, in which she was aided by her husband Paul.

Friends and family say Susan would take care of business on the House floor while Paul worked the hall outside, lobbying in support of her goals and serving as her ex officio director of constituent services.

Married 63 years, one was rarely seen without the other, and friends and observers considered them a formidable team, which took nothing away from Susan Holmes’ considerable skills.

“I always thought of her as a true Southern lady,” said Clint Crowe, a state representative in an adjacent district. “Always proper, always kind. But you could tell there was quite a bit of tenacity in her as well.

“She was ready for a fight, if she had to have one.”