
The funeral service will be conducted at 11:00 A.M., Saturday, November 5, 2016 at Friendship Baptist Church, 415 Cotton Street, Americus, Georgia, where Bishop Melvin McCluster is pastor. Reverend Kendrick Barlow, pastor of New Testament Missionary Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia, will officiate. Interment will follow in the Westview Cemetery, Sun Story Road, Ashburn, Georgia.
Antonio was born June 3, 1969 in Ashburn, Turner County, Georgia to Corine Coley Holmes and the late Arthur R. Holmes, Sr. He was a 1988 graduate of Albany High School. He was employed with Imery of Andersonville, Georgia as a mill operator.
On June 29, 2002, he was united in holy matrimony to the former Fatema Dowdell and to this union they were blessed with four children and three grandchildren. Their love was inseparable until his demise which came in the loving surrounding of his beloved family on Thursday, October 27, 2016.
He accepted Christ as his personal Savior and joined the band of Christian believers at New Testament Missionary Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia.
He leaves a legacy of love and many fond memories to his beloved wife, Fatema Dowdell Holmes, Americus, Georgia; his mother, Corine Coley Holmes, Albany, Georgia; father-in-law, Edward Lockhart, Americus, Georgia; four children, Antonio Holmes, Jr. (Beverly) Lawton, Oklahoma, LaShay Dowdell, Tyeesha Walton, and Tristen Holmes, all of Americus, Georgia; four grandchildren, DeAngelo Jenkins, Antonio Holmes III, Aryn Holmes and DeAron Dowdell; siblings, Arthur Holmes, Jr. (Lynda) Albany, Georgia, Christopher Holmes, and Shakisha Jones (Cartes) all of Albany, Georgia, Sherrine Gipson (Darren) and Lewanda Bateman (Patrick), all of Ashburn, Georgia and RoShundra Martin (Collier), Marietta, Georgia; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Wanda Thomas, Americus, Georgia, Stanley Lockhart, Cordele, Georgia, Antonio Dowdell (Erica), Antonio Cooper and Terell Dowdell all of Americus, Georgia; aunts and uncles, Betty Sue Mays, Ashburn, Georgia, Elizabeth Jones, and Verdie Ruth Holmes both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bessie Coley, Ridgeland, South Carolina, Louise Byrd, Albany, Georgia, Willie C. Coley (Louise), A.J. Coley (Georgia), Tommy Lee Holmes, Aaron Holmes, Memzie Holmes all of Ashburn, Georgia, Susie Ann Coley, Chula, Georgia; and a host of nieces, nephews, other cousins, and friends.