Roscoe "Ross" Holmes , 66, of Deerfield Beach, FL, passed away peacefully at his daughter's house on April 27, 2016 after succumbing to a fight with cancer. Ross was born in Barton, VT, on Feb. 26, 1950. He grew up on a farm in West Charleston, VT, and attended schools in West and East Charleston, the latter a one-room schoolhouse where his mother was the teacher. He attended Derby Academy in Derby, VT, before graduating from Lyndon Institute in Lyndon Center, VT. After a brief stint at VT Technical College, he left school to join the army and served two tours of duty as an M.P. (military police) in Vietnam. Back in the U.S., he worked for a decade or more as an electrical linesman throughout New England. During this period he married and was blessed with a daughter, Heidi. Subsequently the family moved to Florida, where Ross was destined to live for most of his life, although periodically he would backslide (northslide?) to his beloved Vermont. Ross loved the great outdoors and had little use for the cramped indoors. He tried a desk job or two but couldn't bear the feeling of being enclosed by walls all day. Later in his life he found the job that fit him to a T: working with a moving company that sent huge trucks all over the country, dropping a family's worldly possessions at a home in New Orleans and reloading for a drop in Reno, and on and on. In addition to satisfying his wanderlust, the work offered warm camaraderie among the crew, both with the daytime labors and the evening revelries. Ross was a warm and gentle soul who loved music, vintage car meets, and a cold, frothy beer. He also kept close communication with family members and visited them throughout the country, and he will be greatly missed. He is survived by his daughter Heidi Holmes with husband Dean Mallen and their son (and Ross's only grandson) Ezekiel Holmes Mallen; siblings Joyce Holmes, Amaryllis Sheltra, Reginald Holmes with wife Laurel Holmes, Dean Holmes with wife Lisa Irwin, and Bernard Holmes; great-aunt Pauline Darby; and numerous nieces and nephews. Curtis-Britch-Converse-Rushford Funeral Home, at 4670 Darling Hill Road, Newport, will have calling hours from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 5. A graveside ceremony will take place on Friday, May 6, at West Charleston Village Cemetery with full military honors beginning at 11:00 a.m.