Lucky Bag Yearbook

From the 1952 Lucky Bag:

William Patton Holmes

Jocular, a bouncing ball of vitality and with a passion for classical music, Bill was the cosmopolitan of the class. The academics at Navy never gave Bill any trouble and he found time to play a good game of lacrosse and write and think of his OAO from Virginia. Bill worked hard at lacrosse and was one of the regular work and sweat boys out every season. With a knack for harmonizing, he and his guitar were always ready and willing to join the gang in a few songs. Bill planned to roll to the Wide Blue Yonder after graduation; we know that he will succeed, for with his ability he will be able to fly anything.

Loss

William was lost on July 18, 1956 when the aircraft he was piloting collided with another over the island of Stromboli, Italy. He was flying from USS Intrepid (CVA 11) with Attack Squadron (VA) 85; the aircraft were engaged in a nighttime bombing practice.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

William married Mary JoAnn Fredricks on September 6, 1952. After his death, she married Robert H. S. French in 1957. They divorced and in 1982 she married Richard P. Behrens. She died in August 1982 in Delray Beach, Florida.

William’s father was a mechanical engineer who died in 1953. His mother Dorothy worked for the General Accounting Office in Washington, D. C.

He had a son, William, who drowned in 1958 at the family home of his stepfather.

His sister, Marian, married a 1953 graduate but died of polio in March 1956.

He is buried in Virginia.

Photographs

From the Richmond Times Dispatch on June 2, 1952