Community Corner

Memorial Service Held For Young Coast Guard Officer Who Died In Boating Accident

Friends remember Nicholas Holmes with revved engines and burnouts outside Riggs Funeral Home

Traffic backed up on Route 9 in Lacey Township near as dozens of trucks revved their engines in honor of their close friend, Nicholas Holmes.

Holmes, 25, of Lacey on Saturday, June 25. His body was found in the Barnegat Bay on Tuesday, June 28.

What started as a somber day in Lacey as more than 100 people, including a busload of Coast Guardsmen, said their goodbyes to Holmes, turned into a celebration in remembrance of one of his favorite pastimes.

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The memorial service may have begun with tears and silence but it ended with cheering. As the first truck pulled out the funeral home’s parking lot, a friend of Holmes yelled out “Get it, you won’t!”

The driver of the truck pulled onto Route 9, stopped and revved the engine. There would be many others to follow.

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“That’s how Nick would have wanted it,” one person yelled out.

Holmes, Machinery Technician First Class in the U.S. Coast Guard, was known for his love for life, big heart and great friendship.

“He was good at life,” one friend said.

“I admire him. He never stopped. He knew what he wanted out of life. He did everything at 100 mph. He had a contagious lust for life,” said Joel Dobson, Machinery Technician Second Class in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Dobson said Holmes had so much love for everyone.

“He was a friend to you even if you didn’t know him,” Connor Cavanaugh said.

Riggs Funeral Home was packed as everyone stood in silence throughout the memorial service, which included a eulogy by Holmes’s father Ken Holmes and several speeches by members of the military and a pastor.

“Let’s all be thankful we were given the chance to know such a great man,” Capt. Nick Bartolotta said.

Holmes’s coffin was draped with an American flag with a Coast Guard hat on top and his uniform hung to the side. Two Coast Guardsmen stood on either side of the coffin.

The theme song of the day was “Dirt Road Anthem” by Jason Aldean. The country song played throughout the wake with a slideshow of photos, during the memorial service, and through the speakers of several trucks that burnout. The song is centered on the easy life, driving on a dirt road with mud tires, and reminiscing on good times.

Holmes was born on July 22, 1985, at Naval Submarine Base in New London CT, where his father was stationed as a member of the Coast Guard.

“He had planned to follow in his father’s footstep making the Coast Guard a career. Doing what he enjoyed most, riding ships and working on engines or just fixing things,” his obituary said.

Holmes lived in Morehead City, N.C., for six years before moving to New Jersey. He graduated from Lacey Township High School and entered the Coast Guard in 2005, where he advanced through the ranks quickly.

He was serving as a Machinery Technician at Air Station Atlantic City.

Holmes is survived by his father and mother, Ken and Patti Holmes, and two brothers, Christopher and Jonathan Holmes.


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