Robert L. 'Joe' Holmes, 82, retired police officer, mentor

Robert L. "Joe" Holmes, 82, of Mount Airy, a retired Philadelphia police officer and security supervisor at Hahnemann University Hospital, died Saturday, May 28, of complications from lung cancer at Chestnut Hill Hospital.

The youngest of four boys and a girl, Mr. Holmes became the patriarch of his family after the death of his brothers. He was a mentor to younger men in his family, neighborhood, and on the job. Affectionately called "Unc," he advised them on matters of personal responsibility, and helped them find jobs and stay out of trouble.

Before moving to Mount Airy, he had lived in West Oak Lane, where he was known as a "cool" dad, a snazzy dresser, and a fierce competitor. He often challenged men decades his junior to beat him on the basketball and racquetball courts. When he did, he reveled in the victory, his family said.

Tyrone Goodwin, a lieutenant in the Philadelphia Fire Department, said Mr. Holmes mentored him while the two worked together in the security department at Hahnemann University Hospital.

"In the early 1980s, he was my supervisor, and we became very close. He was a real man. He carried himself with a lot of respect," Goodwin said. "It takes a man to raise a man. He filled that void that I was missing."

Partly due to the encouragement he received from Mr. Holmes, Goodwin aspired to a career in the Fire Department. He took the qualifying tests and was accepted.

"He was very inspiring, not only from a career standpoint, but a personal standpoint," said Goodwin, who now mentors younger men in his church the way Mr. Holmes helped him.

Born and reared in West Philadelphia, Mr. Holmes attended West Philadelphia High School before enlisting in the Army in 1953. He served as an electrical lineman at Fort Campbell, Ky. He was honorably discharged in 1955. He earned his GED later.

In 1957, Mr. Holmes married Epsie Thompson, whom he had known from childhood. He had carried her books as they walked home from Shoemaker Junior High School.

He joined the Philadelphia Police Department in 1958 and was assigned to districts in North and West Philadelphia. In 1969, while Mr. Holmes and his partner were trying to rescue a family from a house fire in North Philadelphia, the two became trapped in the building. Both were rescued by colleagues. No one died in the fire.

Mr. Holmes suffered smoke inhalation. Shortly after the fire, Mr. Holmes retired from the force.

He went on to work in various jobs, selling cars and clothes, and driving a bus when the family moved to Los Angeles for two years in the 1970s. He returned to Philadelphia in 1979 and moved to Mount Airy. In the early 1980s, he became a security supervisor at Hahnemann University Hospital, where he worked for nearly 20 years before retiring.

Mr. Holmes was a founding member of Club Eric, a social organization made up of police officers that hosted popular cabarets featuring groups such as the Intruders and the Magnificent Men. He served as a trustee at F.C. Wesley Methodist Church in South Philadelphia. He collected jazz albums, played golf, and gardened in his front and back yards.

He loved to travel by car, driving to Florida every winter, exploring East Coast beaches, and heading across country twice with his family.

In addition to his wife of 58 years, Mr. Holmes is survived by a daughter, Kristin E. Holmes, a reporter for the Inquirer; a sister, Sarah Ferguson; and many nieces and nephews.

A viewing at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4, at F.C. Wesley Methodist Church, 739 S. 17th St. (17th and Fitzwater Streets), Philadelphia, will be followed by funeral services at 10 a.m. Burial will be private.

Memorial donations may be made to the Breathing Room Foundation, P.O. Box 287, Jenkintown, Pa. 19046. The foundation provides care and support to the families of those fighting cancer.

bcook@phillynews.com

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