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On Thursday, April 28, Holmes Community College honored 11 Holmes employees who are retiring this spring with a reception at the President’s House in Goodman. Holmes President Dr. Jim Haffey presented each retiree with a plaque and a reception followed for honorees, faculty, staff, family and friends. Honorees recognized included: Angie Blain, Cham Blain, Dr. Stephanie Diffey, Jessica Elliott, Terry Fancher, Roxanne Harrison, James Hodges, Pamela Moore, Wyndy Peeples, Jennie Pegg and Greg Wilson. Elliott and Pegg were unable to attend.
Angie Blain
Blain is retiring from Holmes after 30 years of service. She is an instructor in the Education Department on the Ridgeland Campus, but she has held a few different positions over the years. Blain joined the Holmes family in 1989 as an administrative assistant in the Goodman Campus vocational/technical department. She took a one-year hiatus from Holmes to work at Brookhaven Elementary but returned in 1993. In 1996, she became assistant to the district vocational/technical director, and in 2000, moved into the role of director of personnel and assistant to the executive vice president and business manager. Blain switched gears and began teaching on the Ridgeland Campus in 2004.
She holds an Associate of Arts from Holmes Junior College, a Bachelor of Science from Mississippi State University and a master’s from Grand Canyon University. She is married to Cham Blain, an engineering technology instructor at Holmes, and they are members of Pickens Baptist Church. They have a son, Hunter, who is employed with Continental Tire in Clinton, and a daughter, Haley, who is employed with Graduate Services and is married to Josh King, employed with B&B Archery.
“In retirement, I’d like to work part-time, but I look forward to spending more time with my precious family and friends,” Blain said. “I would love for Cham and I to do some traveling.”
Cham Blain
Blain is retiring from Holmes after nearly 25 years of service as an Engineering Technology and Industrial Technology instructor/advisor. Prior to Holmes, he worked in educational sales for Educational Training & Consultants (ETC). Before his employment with ETC, he taught diversified technology for two years at the Canton Career Center and three years at Brookhaven Vocational Center.
He earned the Specialist in Safety and Health (SSH) from University of Texas at Arlington, a Master of Education from Mississippi State University and a Bachelor of Science from MSU. Blain and his wife, education instructor Angie Blain, are members of Pickens Baptist Church. They have a son, Hunter, who is employed with Continental Tire in Clinton, and a daughter, Haley, who is employed with Graduate Services and married to Josh King. In his spare time, Blain enjoys hunting, fishing and spending time with family. In retirement, he plans to find something to do part-time, hunt, fish and spend time with loved ones.
“I have truly enjoyed my time working here,” Blain said. “I will miss the friends and family that we call Holmes!”
Stephanie Diffey, Ed.D.
Dr. Diffey is retiring from Holmes after 18 years of service working for the college and 29 years of working for the State of Mississippi. She started as a faculty member at Holmes in the Mathematics Department, served as the PreCore Studies Department Chair and QEP Director and accepted the position as Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness in 2014. She earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Mississippi State University and her doctorate from the University of Mississippi. During her tenure at Holmes, Dr. Diffey served as the music director of Main Street Baptist Church for more than 15 years and of Pickens Baptist Church for more than three. In addition to singing and playing the piano, she enjoys drawing, pottery and spending quality time with her three adult children – Ethan, Noah and Jesse. Following her retirement, Dr. Diffey will continue her career by working for the Alabama Commission on Higher Education.
Jessica Elliott
Elliott, program director and instructor for surgical technology, retired from Holmes after 26 years with the college. She is currently a registered nurse with Life Help Mental Health Center – Grenada Crisis Stabilization Unit. Elliott holds a BSN from the University of Texas, as well as three associate degrees from the Holmes Grenada Campus. Her associate degrees are in nursing, forensic science and psychology. She earned her teacher licensure from Mississippi State University and an associate degree in occupational education and an associate degree in surgical technology from Hinds Community College.
Elliott is a national officer for the Association of Surgical Technologists (AST) and on the board of the Mississippi State Assembly of Association of Surgical Technologists. She’s also a member of Association of Operating Room Nurses and Mississippi Nurses Association.
“In addition to working with my national organization, the AST, I plan to travel and spend more time with family,” Elliott said. “I will be continuing my healthcare career and pursuing higher education. I also have plans to go on surgical mission trips to Ecuador and Kenya this fall.”
Elliot enjoys traveling, painting, reading, cooking and volunteering for Healing the Children. She has three children – Anita, Xavier and Tarilyn – and three grandchildren – Kayleb, Corey and Jaelyn.
Terry Fancher
Terry Fancher is retiring from Holmes after 25 years of service. He is the director of student housing and has also served as head women’s softball coach in the past (for nine years while also serving as housing director). Fancher holds a B.A. degree from Mississippi State University (MSU) with additional master’s degree hours. He also attended Mississippi College (MC) for two years. Prior to Holmes, Fancher worked with international student services at MSU, and before that, as a claims representative for Social Security Administration. He and his wife, Lacye, have a daughter, Lakelynn (and a son, Brennan (17). Lakelynn is a junior at Mississippi College and Brennan is a junior at Kosciusko High School.
In his spare time, Fancher enjoys spending time with family, metal detecting (treasure hunting), antique collecting and fishing. A former baseball player at MC and MSU, and member of the 1989 SEC baseball championship team, he enjoys baseball and softball instruction, as well. He is a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church Kosciusko as well as a member of the Mississippi Association of Housing Officers. Upon retiring from Holmes, he will begin full-time employment with French Camp Academy.
“I truly appreciate having had the opportunity to be a part of Holmes Community College all these years,” Fancher said. “I realize now that I have spent close to half of my life working here and, in that time, have had the privilege of meeting a lot of good people along the way. I hope that during my time here that I was able to make some small contribution to the lives of those I served.”
Roxanne Harrison
Harrison is retiring from Holmes after serving as an administrative assistant for Career-Technology and Workforce Development. She holds degrees in music education and elementary education from Delta State University and Texas A&M University, respectively. Harrison and her husband, Kenny, are active members of Coffeeville First Baptist Church where she serves as the church pianist. The Harrisons have three boys, Ben, Ryan and Philip; three daughters-in-law and four grandsons, Rowan, Maclane, Easton and Benjamin (and a baby girl on the way). In her free time, she enjoys sewing, creating crafts for her Etsy shop, needlework, remodeling and playing the piano.
“I plan to spend a lot of time with my grandbabies, do some remodeling with my husband and just relax for a while!” Harrison said.
James Hodges
Hodges of Lexington is retiring from Holmes after working for eight years with the grounds crew. The J.J. McClain graduate worked for the Holmes County Sanitation Department before coming to the college. He was with the department for 11 years. He worked at Fleetwood Holmes in Lexington for 11 years prior to that and 10 years at Lexington Products.
Hodges enjoys spending time with his church family at Pentecost Church of God in Christ and also hunting and fishing. He has two grown children.
Pamela Moore
Moore is retiring from Holmes after serving as a Grenada Campus English instructor for nearly 13 years. Prior to coming to Holmes, she taught in the Mobile, Alabama, school district and at St. Agnes Academy in Memphis, Tennessee. She also owned and operated a bookstore called Pages and More Booksellers for nine years (before the days of Amazon). Moore earned her bachelor’s and master’s in education from the University of Mississippi. Her professional memberships include: Alpha Phi Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International Society for Women Educators and the Grenada Higher Education Association (local and state member).
Moore has been an active member of the Grenada Garden Club for over 25 years. She is also an active member of the New Century Book Club and a Life Member of the Junior Auxiliary of Grenada. Moore attends Emmanuel Baptist Church where she is currently serving on the Properties Committee and the Boomers “50 and Up” Committee.
“I enjoy gardening, traveling, reading, playing bridge every other Friday, attending Ole Miss sporting events and spending time with my family, especially my sweet grandchildren,” Moore said. “I was married for almost 35 years to the late Kevin Moore. I have three daughters, two sons-in-law and five beautiful grandchildren. I plan to spend more time visiting with family and friends. I also want to get back into my yoga classes, travel and just enjoy having more time for all of favorite hobbies.”
Wyndy Peeples
Peeples is retiring after serving nearly 16 years as a Goodman Campus Career-Technical Education (CTE) counselor. Previously, she worked as an elementary counselor and taught kindergarten and first grade in the Kosciusko School District for 12 years. Peeples holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in education/counseling from Mississippi State University. Her professional memberships include Mississippi Counseling Association, Mississippi Community College Counselors Association and Mississippi Vocational Counselors Association. She has also been a member of Harmonia United Methodist Church for 45 years.
“I have been married to Cody Peeples for 10 years and I have two sons: Ryan Lawrence and Sam Lawrence,” Peeples said. “Ryan farms in the Attala County area and he and his wife Lauren have five sons: Sam, Chap, Knox, Wells and McCoy. My son Sam attends seminary in Knoxville, Tennessee with plans to graduate in 2023. In retirement, I plan to travel with my husband and spend time with my children and grandchildren. Gardening, cooking, kayaking and living life to the fullest, making the most of every day. There are many fond memories that I will be taking with me from my time at Holmes and as part of the CTE family. I will continue to recruit potential students after my retirement and make sure they understand why there truly is “No Place like Holmes.”
Jennie Pegg
Pegg, a mathematics instructor on the Grenada Campus, is retiring from Holmes after 19 years of service. She served as chair of the mathematics and computer science department beginning in the fall of 2015. Pegg has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Converse College, in Spartan, South Carolina, and a master’s in education from Delta State University. She previously worked as a medical assistant in Nashville, Tennessee; a mathematics instructor at Bolton High School in Shelby County, Tennessee; district manager of Field Enterprises Education Corporation and a mathematics instructor in the Grenada Separate School District. Pegg came to Holmes in 1985, the year the Grenada Campus opened, as an adjunct instructor and has been full-time since 2002.
Greg Wilson
Wilson is retiring from Holmes after 13 years of service to the college. He teaches Human Anatomy & Physiology, Nutrition and Principles of Biology on the Ridgeland Campus. Wilson has been in education for 41 years; 28 years in high school and the remaining 13 at Holmes. He holds an Associate of Arts from Hinds Community College, a Bachelor of Science from The University of Southern Mississippi and a master’s from USM. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, wildlife conservationist and traveling.
“My plans for retirement are to visit National Parks if I can afford the gas,” Wilson said.
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IN THIS PHOTO: Pictured are the Holmes Community College faculty and staff members honored during the 2022 Retirement Reception at the President’s Home on April 28. They are (left to right) Greg Wilson, Cham Blain, Angie Blain, Wyndy Peeples, Dr. Stephanie Diffey, Pamela Moore, Roxanne Harrison, James Hodges and Terry Fancher. Not pictured: Jessica Elliott and Jennie Pegg.
