Harrison Lightcap Holmes, Sr., 86, died on Monday, March 30, 2026 at his home in Greenwood, Mississippi. Funeral services will be held on Friday, April 3 at 10 o'clock a.m. at Wilson & Knight Funeral Home. Services will be preceded by a visitation at 9 o'clock a.m.

Harrison was born on April 25, 1939 to C.E. and Alice Lightcap Holmes in Greenwood.  As a child he demonstrated incredible aptitude for mechanical and electrical engineering. In the fifth grade he built his own radio transmitter with a range of one mile. He was always called upon by his teachers at North Greenwood School (Bankston) for any technical tasks, like threading the film projector.

He excelled academically at Greenwood High School and graduated in 1957, after which he attended the University of the South (Sewanee). During his time at Sewanee, he explored his creative literary interests by writing short stories and poems as well as articles for the student paper. Eventually he was named managing editor of the Sewanee Purple. Author and professor Andrew Lytle was a great influence on him at this time. Though his interests lay in physics and literature, he graduated with a B.A. in philosophy in 1962 and was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

After graduation, Harrison continued his education taking classes at Peabody College in Nashville, TN. He received his teaching license from Delta State University in 1965 and went on to teach a year of Mississippi Civics at a high school on the coast. He always enjoyed telling the story of how on the first day the class thought he was a fellow student posing as the teacher. Until his later years, Harrison was very proud of his youthful appearance.

In the latter half of the 1960s, Harrison started the Union Records label and a recording studio in Jackson, MS, producing recordings for regional artists, including Taylor Kitchings in collaboration with his lifelong friend Charles Hall.

Back in Greenwood, Harrison opened a music store and began designing and manufacturing audio equipment. Eventually he formed Holmes Amplifiers which he owned throughout the 1970s. Of the amplifiers he designed, the most notable was the solid state analog tube emulation guitar amplifier, the Holmes Mississippi Bluesmaster. These amps are now collector's items among musicians for their unique sound and association with legendary guitarist Shawn Lane.

After selling the amplifier business in the early 1980s, Harrison taught himself computer engineering and software development and began work at the local machinery manufacturer, Hydra-Tool Co. While there he utilized his new skills to design machine language computers, some of which were implemented in Naval contracts.

In the late 1980s, he continued to explore his interests in photography and visual arts by starting his own video production company, Cable-Cast. During his many years as a television commercial producer, he won numerous Addy awards for his work each year. He continued to work in advertising until his retirement.

Harrison led an interesting and varied life through his many entrepreneurial endeavors, guided by his technological prowess.

Everyone who knew him will tell you he was certainly an acquired taste, but nevertheless to those who knew him best, he was a dear friend and will be greatly missed.

Harrison was preceded in death by his wife, Pamela Shepherd Holmes, parents, and brother, C.E. Holmes, Jr. He is survived by his sister, Chappell Wells of Houston, TX; two children, Elizabeth Holmes Stewart (Seth) of Nashville, TN, and Harrison L. Holmes Jr. (Jessica) of Nashville, TN; and four grandchildren, Anderson Stewart, Charles Stewart, Stella Stewart, and Harrison L. Holmes III, all of Nashville, TN.

The family would like to give special thanks to Bob Milam and Equen Rhodes for their long friendship and care to Harrison.