[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 186 (Monday, November 20, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2229-E2230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IT'S ELEMENTARY, DEAR HOLMES

                                 ______


                          HON. JAMES A. BARCIA

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 20, 1995

  Mr. BARCIA. Mr. Speaker, there are people that we meet during our 
lives that leave an indelible mark. I have had the good fortune to have 
been acquainted with one such individual who leaves an indelible mark 
of accomplishment, amazement, and style. On November 29, many of us in 
the Saginaw community will be joining with his colleagues at General 
Motor's Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems to honor Mr. Gerald E. Holmes, 
who will be leaving Saginaw to being his new position as Director of 
North America Operations Issues Management and Media Relations.
  Gerry Holmes has worked for General Motors since February 1964, and 
in public relations since 1968. He became the public relations/
advertising supervisor at the former Saginaw Steering Gear Division in 
1975. He then held various positions within GM, including with Detroit 
Diesel Allison, GM Truck and Bus Group, and then returned to the 
Saginaw area when he became Director of Public Relations at the Central 
Foundry Division in 1985. He served as Director of Public Affairs for 
both the Central Foundry Division and Saginaw Division from 1988 until 
1992, when the foundries became part of the GM Powertrain Group.
  Success is elementary to Gerry Holmes, as elementary as it was to Sir 
Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. Some of us may 
remember the passage from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, A Case of 
Identity, when Doyle's Holmes observed ``It has long been an axiom of 
mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.'' It has 
long been my experience that Gerry Homes definitely knows how to take 
care of the ``little things''--the need for information, the 
explanation of a particular activity at any of the facilities with 
which he has been affiliated.
  His devotion to public service, for example his time with the Saginaw 
Community Foundation, the Saginaw Community Affairs Committee, his 
board membership with a host of organizations ranging from the Saginaw 
Art Museum to St. Mary's Medical Center, to the Boys and Girls Club of 
America, show his devotion to the ``little things'' that so many of us 
fail to recognize as infinitely the most important.
  And as Doyle also noted in the Sign of Four, ``Some facts should be 
suppressed, or at least, a just sense of proportion should be observed 
in treating them.'' Gerry Holmes has always had a marvelous sense of 
proportion. He has worked to be appropriately promotional with his 
portrayal of General Motors. The fact that he has throughout his career 
been given greater responsibility is evidence of this point. And the 
fact that so many of us haven't been fully aware of Gerry's other 
community service is a demonstration of his humility in doing what is 
right without having to seek praise--praise which he does deserve.
  Mr. Speaker, with the support of his wife Joy and his family over the 
years, with the support of his colleagues throughout General Motors, 
and with his many friends in Saginaw. Gerry Holmes has become a vital 
member of the community. He may want to deny it, but he will be sorely 
missed here. I remind our 

[[Page E 2230]]
colleagues and him of another Holmes' observation in The Sign of Four: 
``When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however 
improbable, must be the truth.'' The truth is that Gerry Holmes will be 
missed. We want him to do well at all that he does, but his absence 
will leave a hole that will be hard to fill.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge you and all of our colleagues to join me in 
wishing Gerald E. Holmes every success in the days to come.

                          ____________________