With deep sorrow and heavy hearts, we mourn the passing of Mary Alice Holmes who died on January 3, 2024 at the age of 63 at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston surrounded by family and friends after a three-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Born on August 24, 1960, Mary Alice was raised in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake, Ohio, the daughter of Judge Milton D. Holmes and Mary Agnes (Copeland) Holmes. From an early age, she gravitated to the arts, displaying her talent in drawing, painting, music, literature and, of course, theater.

She attended college at the University of Kentucky and receiving her BA in Communications and Theater from Miami University of Ohio. Later she obtained a Master of Science in Philanthropy and Media from Suffolk University in Boston.

She dreamed of a life outside of her hometown and so moved to Los Angeles where she pursued and achieved an exciting career in the television and film industry working on numerous productions on locations throughout the US and abroad.

Her love of travel, her “wanderlust”, took her to a multitude of locales, including Russia, Ethiopia, France, Switzerland, Ireland, the UK, and of course many times to her beloved Italy.

Her work in the entertainment business included many assignments with Home Box Office (HBO) where she met and fell in love with her future husband, Tom Plant.

In 1994, Mary Alice moved back east to Massachusetts with Tom and his two young sons, Brian and Alex. They married in 1997. There she immersed herself in local theater making her mark as both an actor and director; involved herself in community organizations; led a community youth group; and owned and operated a small business. They continued traveling together, spending long stretches in Italy.

Eventually resuming her career in television at WGBH in Boston, Mary Alice was involved in numerous productions including the prestigious PBS series, Nova.

In 2019, Mary Alice accomplished one of her bucket list items when she and Tom renovated a small home in southern New Mexico.

She was devoted to the philosophy and practice of yoga. Her strong spirituality guided her courageous battle with cancer over the past three years.

She was a voracious reader and a true lover of books, routinely reading three or four books at a time. Writing was her passion, and though she referred to herself as “a writer who doesn’t write,” she succeeded in creating hundreds of beautiful and insightful pieces including scripts, articles, and letters. She was a talented painter and a lover of languages. She was an animal lover who had many beloved pets throughout her life.

Mary Alice was committed to various social issues of our time, attending marches and protests when she could and writing letters and making phone calls even during the final stages of her illness.

She loved her immediate and extended family with a passion and she made friends wherever she went.

She is survived by her husband Thomas Plant and sons, Brian (Jackie Gurry) and Alex, grandson, Dylan, brothers Mark (Flor de Maria) and Tom (Norene), sister Karen (Rena Grasso) and many nieces and nephews.

Her intellect, wit, joie de vivre, and infectious spirit will be profoundly missed.

For those wishing to honor Mary Alices's life her family requests you donate to:

Dana Farber Cancer Institute through sponsorship of our friend and Boston Marathon runner, Ryan D'Amico. One hundred percent of every dollar raised by the DFCI team supports the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

http://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/goto/ryandamico2024

or

One of MA's favorite organizations: Planned Parenthood. https://www.weareplannedparenthood.org/