Michael Holmes, Leo Lions Legacy Award Winner 2020 Feted Remotely

Michael Holmes is Leo High School Chicago’s fifth recipient of the Leo Lions Legacy Award, which recognizes exceptional service to Leo High School and the greater Chicago community, announced school President Dan McGrath.

Holmes will be honored at the fifth annual Leo Scholarship Benefit on Tuesday, January 12, 2021.

Traditionally, the scholarship benefit is held downtown at the Four Seasons Hotel. This year, due to COVID restrictions on large gatherings, it will be live-streamed nationally. Organizers vow “a suitably memorable evening for Holmes” - a man whose selfless, wide-ranging service to Leo spans 30 career years.

“Michael Holmes has been an influential figure in my life since I played football for him back in the early ‘90s,” said Shaka Rawls ‘93, Leo’s fifth-year principal. “He’s a main reason why I’m working at Leo. I’m not sure where I’d be in life, much less working at Leo had it not been for the investment he made in my life.”

Holmes follows Leo’s Andrew McKenna ‘47, William Conlon ‘63, the late Thomas Owens ‘54 and Robert Sheehy ‘71 as Leo Lions Legacy honorees.

“Mike Holmes is joining some pretty exclusive company, but there’s no question he belongs in that company,” McGrath ‘68 said. “All of us who have worked with Mike are aware of the tremendous impact he’s had on our school and our kids. We’re proud of him, and we’re really happy to see his service recognized.”

Holmes is one of the most decorated athletes in Leo history, a High School All-American in football, an All-Catholic League performer in baseball and a varsity participant in basketball. He won the Tony Lawless Award as Chicago Catholic League Player of the Year for football in 1975, an honor his son Aamir duplicate at Leo 41 years later.

Holmes flourished in football at the University of Illinois, where he led the Illini in rushing for two seasons and achieved All-Big Ten recognition as a running back, after transferring in from the University of Colorado.

His pro prospects dimmed by a chronic knee injury, he kept on the academic track; he earned a master’s degree in urban planning and public policy and went to work for the City of Chicago’s Planning Department, only to be drawn back to Leo, where he spent 30 years as a highly regarded teacher, coach and administrator.

A member of the Leo Hall of Fame, the Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, Holmes was Leo Alumni Association Man of the Year in 2017. He’s also a two-time winner of the Lawless Award as Catholic League Coach of the Year. Holmes remains the Lions’ head football coach and serves as a consultant to the Leo administration, most recently overseeing renovation projects involving the revitalization of 79th Street and the school’s gym, auditorium and courtyard. He also works as Vice President of Administrative Services at Chicago State University.

Inside the Leo family, Holmes’ greatest impact has come as a father figure---he is known for his “stubborn refusal to give up on a kid.” In addition to helping dozens of his athletes earn college scholarships, he has selflessly assisted hundreds of young Leo men with their development into responsible, productive, caring citizens.

“I’m one of them,” Principal Rawls said. “Coach has been an important figure in my life since I was a Leo student and I still draw inspiration from him to this day.”

Holmes’s wife Patricia Brown Holmes is one of the most influential leaders in Chicago’s legal community, a former Cook County Circuit Court judge who is now managing partner of the Chicago law practice Riley Safer Holmes & Cancilla, LLP. Pat and Mike met at the University of Illinois, and they have been married 36 years. They have “dipped into their own pockets countless times” to assist young Leo men in time of need, according to McGrath.

Daughter Aasha, a graduate of the George Washington University, is an event coordinator for Suntory Beam distributors in Chicago. Aamir Holmes is a junior defensive back at the University of Kentucky.

“When I see the names on the list of previous winners, I understand that the Leo Lions Legacy Award is quite an honor, and I’m grateful for it,” Coach Holmes said. “This journey has never been about recognition. It’s about helping kids, and I’m blessed to be able to do that at Leo. If this event helps Leo, it’s the greatest investment we’ll ever make and I’m proud to be part of it.”

According to McGrath “Holmes embodies the Leo motto: Facta non Verba. His life is one of deeds and accomplishments, not words.”

The fifth annual Leo Scholarship Benefit, with Coach Mike Holmes ’76 as the honoree, will be live-streamed on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 6 p.m. central. Leo President Dan McGrath "invites all" to click on here: www.pjhchicago.com/leo-scholarship-benefit to join the Leo Lions.