Caitlyn (Neeley) Holmes

Caitlyn Holmes (Neeley) was born on September 7, 1989 in Seward Nebraska to Lora Larson and Michael Neeley. She grew up in Chadron, Rushville, and Gordon, Nebraska. She was involved in drama and speech, presenting dramatic interpretation and playing various roles into college. She also played trumpet and participated in choir with gusto, and had a deep love of music with an eclectic taste. In the summer of 2007 she met Emily and by 2008 they began dating. She attended college for one year at Doane in Crete, Nebraska, with a major in Education. She spoke fondly of her dreams to become a high school teacher, but fate took another path and in May of 2009 Ranea was born.

To support her family, Caitlyn enlisted in the United States Army for four years. After basic training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina she completed AIT at Fort Lee, Virginia. From there her assigned duty station was Fort Bliss, in El Paso Texas where she and her family spent the remainder of her enlistment. While there she achieved the rank of Specialist, and spent many months on White Sands Missile Range for training exercises. It is speculated that during one of these exercises in the desert, her ability to process light became damaged and she developed a unique neurological disorder diagnosed as Central Dazzle Syndrome. It was also during these years that her son,, Jericho, was born.

As her enlistment contract came up, Caitlyn elected to process out of the military. A few factors were at play, including her disability, but the biggest one was that she wished to come out and live as her true self, and in February of 2015 she was honorably discharged. In March of 2015 she came out as transgender and introduced the world to her true self with the support of her wife and family. While this did alleviate much of her internal struggle with her identity, she still suffered from dysphoria. Caitlyn also lived polyamorously, as she believed that love was not diminished by holding it between more than two people. In spring of 2016 she had been nearing a PTSD diagnosis. In the end these pains would get the better of her and on June 29th 2016 after a few poignant calls to her wife and children, Caitlyn left this world on her own terms.

She is survived by: her children, Ranea and Jericho; her wife, Emily; her father, Michael; her girlfriend, Kate; her siblings, Megan, Aerin, and James; her grandmother, Gladys; her grandmother, Lois; and many more family members and dear friends.