Local College Offered Housing to Woman, 55, Who Was Living in a Cemetery After Her Husband’s Unexpected Death

After losing her husband, Rhea Holmes thought grief was the hardest part. She was wrong.

In 2020, Holmes and her husband of 26 years, Eddie Holmes, had put an offer on a small home in Syracuse. But not long after, Eddie died suddenly from a heart condition. Instead of using their savings for the house, Holmes used the money to purchase a burial plot for him at Oakwood Cemetery, according to CBS News and Syracuse.com.

Eddie’s death pushed Holmes, 55, into a deep depression. She had been working as an administrative assistant at a hospital, but she eventually lost her job. Over time, she also lost her housing — and when she had nowhere else to go, she began sleeping near her husband’s grave.

“This is what I purchased,” Holmes told CBS News, standing at Eddie’s plot. She said she didn’t tell others she had lost her home because she “didn’t want people to worry.”

“I assumed that I was going to die there,” she added, referring to the cemetery.

Cemetery staff eventually noticed what was happening and alerted police.

That’s when Officer James Pastorello learned the woman sleeping on the property was someone he’d already met. A few days earlier, he had given Holmes a ride to the cemetery — believing she was simply visiting a loved one, Syracuse.com reported.

“I was completely shocked,” Pastorello, 33, told the outlet. “When I found out she was sleeping outside, especially with how cold it was getting, that really hit me.”

Determined to help, Pastorello paid for a hotel room so Holmes could get out of the cold. He then began reaching out through local contacts, hoping to find her a safer and more stable place to stay.

A friend connected him with Linda LeMura, president of Le Moyne College, who offered a temporary solution: an unused home on campus while the school was closed for winter break.

“It was clear that Rhea’s situation was dire,” LeMura said. “Central New York winters can be brutal, so it was imperative that we found a temporary place for her to live while a long-term solution was being identified.”

LeMura said the decision to help was immediate, adding that the school’s mission includes a commitment to social justice — and stepping in for Holmes was simply the right thing to do.

To help Holmes move toward permanent housing, Pastorello launched a GoFundMe, hoping to give her the chance to “begin rebuilding her life.”

As more people learned about Holmes’ situation, the nonprofit A Tiny Home for Good — founded by a Le Moyne alumnus and focused on providing small homes to people in need — reached out with an offer of placement.

On Jan. 5, Holmes moved into a one-bedroom, 300-square-foot home.

“I wasn’t thinking past getting through the day before. Now I can,” she told Syracuse.com.

The home, she said, represents more than shelter — it represents a reset.

“My old house was so close to the cemetery, and this feels like a true new beginning,” Holmes added. She now calls Pastorello her “angel.” “It’s amazing. I don’t even have the words to describe it.”

She also shared a message she hopes others remember.

“So many people feel invisible,” Holmes said. “All it took was one person stopping to care.”