Linda S. Holmes grew up in Scott Depot, West Virginia, and attended Winfield High School. In 1974, she graduated cum laude from Marshall University where she played badminton and volleyball during the early years of women’s athletics at the university. Holmes went on to earn her master’s degree at Marshall, while serving as the coach for the women’s tennis team as a graduate assistant.
In 1976, she became an assistant athletic director and coached softball and volleyball during various times during her 15 1/2-year career with Marshall Athletics. Holmes also served as executive director of the Marshall University Alumni Association from July 1984 to May 1998 and has worked in her current role as director of development and alumni affairs for the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine for nearly 25 years.
Holmes has been a member of the Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame committee since 1985 and has served as the chair for a number of years. In 2003, Holmes was inducted into the Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame and was named a 2021 Wonder Woman by WV Living magazine. Holmes was the first female president of the Rotary Club of Huntington, serves on the board of trustees for the Huntington Museum of Art and the Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District Pickleball Advisory Committee.
