All about family

By Staff
Twelve Holmes siblings give Eva something to brag about
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Count them one by one…Emern Jr., Mary Edith, Dorothy, Barbara, Alice, Martha, Hughes, Zack, Judy, John, Sandra and Cathy. Twelve in all, ranging in age from 77 to 53, they’re the children of the late Emern Sr. and Clyde Holmes of Eva.
The Holmes siblings created a buzz of excitement at Eva Frontier Days on Saturday as they got together and rode in the street parade. They were seated side by side on a float, which was lined with bales of hay. Each one wore a T-shirt with a family photo reproduced on the front and their names printed on the back.
They all were born and raised on a farm a mile southeast of the town’s crossroads. Their daddy operated a cotton gin, gristmill and sawmill in addition to a 100-acre farm. He also grew cotton and other row crops and managed a small herd of dairy cows.
That’s right,” added Dorothy. “We all had chores to do. We know all about chopping and picking cotton and milking cows.”
Nine of the siblings reside in the Eva community, one in Decatur, one in Nashville and one in Statesboro, Ga. All are married except Judy and Mary Elizabeth whose husbands are deceased.
What is it that has kept the family close together for such a long time?
At last count the Holmes siblings and their spouses, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren totaled 127.