By Virginia Hennessey, The Monterey County Herald –
MONTEREY, Calif. — James Holmes, the man believed responsible for killing 12 people Friday during what is thought to be the largest mass shooting in U.S. history, is the grandson of a decorated military veteran who was a respected educator at prestigious York School in Monterey, Calif.
Lt. Col. Robert M. Holmes, who served in the Okinawa campaign during World War II, retired in 1963 as the last commander of the Nike missile group in San Francisco Bay. He was one of the first Turkish language students at the Army Language School, now the Defense Language Institute, graduating in 1948, a school spokesman confirmed Friday.
After his military retirement, Holmes taught math and science at York School for 17 years. He died in 1990. His wife, Mary Jane Crawford Holmes, attended Stanford University and worked at the Monterey City Library, Fort Ord Library and Pacific Grove High School before finishing her career as librarian and college counselor at York School. She died in 2010.
A 1945 graduate of Pacific Grove High School, she was also a member of numerous historical societies, including the Order of the Crown of Charlemagne, Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston and the Monterey Bay Colony of Mayflower Descendants, of which she served as governor.
Their personal histories, taken from their obituaries in The Monterey County Herald, are difficult to reconcile with the most indelible image of their 24-year-old grandson.
Shortly after midnight Thursday, police say, James Holmes outfitted himself in black clothing and a gas mask, jimmied the lock on an exit door in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, then opened fire with three weapons on a theater packed with people watching the premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Twelve people died and 58 were wounded, making it the largest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Holmes, a postgraduate student of neuroscience at the University of Colorado-Denver, was arrested outside the theater. Police spent Friday trying to diffuse explosives found in his Aurora, Colo., apartment.
Holmes also may have personal roots in Monterey County. Online records show his parents, Robert and Arlene Holmes of San Diego, may have lived in Oak Hills in North Monterey County in the late 1980s and 1990s. The Herald was unable to confirm if their son, who was born in December 1987, attended local schools before he graduated from a San Diego high school.
Kris Edmunds, director of advancement for York, said 24-year-old James Holmes never attended that school, though the academy was a family tradition for the older Holmes boys.
His uncle, James Holmes, after whom he was apparently named and who lives in the family’s Carmel, Calif., home, graduated in 1967. His father, Robert Holmes Jr., graduated in 1969.
The two also have a sister, Betty, recently of Santa Cruz.
None of the family was responding to requests for comment after Friday morning.
