She has reached across an expanse of five decades to charm and entertain everyone from the very young to the very old. Through it all, Grandma Tessy still touches the hearts of everyone she meets with laughter, warmth, and love. Now, 85 years old, long time Knox County resident Sharon Holmes still portrays Tessy the Clown or “Grandma Tessy," with the generational love that was instilled into her by her family.
For Holmes, being Grandma Tessy is a more accurate way to be herself. “It just makes me feel, this is what I am, folks,” Holmes said. “There's not any pretense about it. It's just me. I'm this way and I love being me. There's just something that when you're in costume, you feel joyful and I think I do feel joyful and that attracts people. I think of all the children that have known Tessy. I was at lunch at Bob Evans (recently) and in walks a little girl. She said, ‘Hi Grandma Tessy,’ I said, ‘Hi and where are you from?’ She was from Dan Emmett School and said, ‘You gave me a quarter last week.’ I had taken in pennies, nickels, and dimes, and I counted out five pennies makes a nickel. Five pennies and a nickel make a dime. I told them, ‘If you can make 25 cents out of this money, I'll give you a quarter.’ Some of the kids did it really well and some of them not so well, but they all got a quarter. Then, I went into the next room, and I told the teacher, ‘I have plenty of quarters. Would your kids like to do that?’ She said, ‘Oh yes. That would be a good lesson for them.’”
Sharon Holmes, aka Tessy the Clown, shows off her collection of clown dolls and figurines at her home in Apple Valley. Holmes has been entertaining children of all ages for 50 years.Geoff Cowles
Holmes, who was raised in Michigan during and immediately following the Second World War, had a delightful upbringing, full of carefree play. It was a chance for her to dream and develop her imagination.
“I had a really great childhood,” said Holmes. “I had so much fun. My life was full. I was always pretending and having fun. So, it doesn't really surprise me that Tessy the Clown has been around for 50 years.”
In the meantime, her future husband, Carl, was growing up poor in Alabama in the wake of the Great Depression. When they got married, Carl was determined that he would be a steady provider so that his new wife would always be a full-time mother for their children and that they would provide their children with a stable home.
In this environment of love and imagination, Tessy the Clown would be born. It was 1975 and Holmes hit upon the idea of sending her daughter, Shari, to Clown School.
“It started out as a 4-H project, which I signed my daughter up for,” recalled Holmes. “After the first week, she came home from school and she said, ‘Mom, you should do it. You'd love it. I think you would love it.’”
That’s all it took. Tessy was born.
“So, I went the next week, and I kept going to the class every week,” Holmes said. “The reason my clown name is Tessy is because my maiden name was Tessman. When you become a clown, you make up your own name and you make up your own face. That’s very important. You did your own face. So, I stuck to it. The heart-shaped mouth was love and I'm a loving clown from way back, but I've had a really good run.”
The Holmes family moved from Michigan to a five-acre farm in Knox County, where they lived for 14 years. Soon, Tessy was making friends all over Knox County.
“I remember going to the Knox County Fair and I had a little girl run up to me,” Holmes said. “She was lost, and she came up to me and I said, ‘Well, don't worry honey. We'll find your mommy and daddy. She came up to me, because I think she felt safe. Most children do. I've always been available. When I was doing the Summer Palooza out in Apple Valley, There was a little boy who was just learning how to walk. He ran up to me. His parents said, ‘He never does that with strangers.’ Then, I thought, ‘Well, has he thought that's not a stranger? That's a grandma.’ Yet, I had just met him and I didn't know him but he walked right up to me.”
Later, the Holmes moved to Apple Valley where they lived in a lakefront home.
“I did the Mother's Day celebration out at Apple Valley. I worked for different organizations. I did a lot of classroom things. I did the Dan Emmett Festival. I did so many birthday parties for kids. That was always a fun thing. I'd go in and the kids would come to me and touch me and say, ‘You're still there Grandma,’ or, ‘You're still there Tessy.’ I told them, ‘I'm a person. I'm not a puppet or anything like that.’”
Once her husband took her on a business trip to California where she made a great discovery.
“I was in one of the stores and I saw a queen size sheet on a clearance rack,” said Holmes. “It was long and it was full of hearts all over it. I thought to myself, ‘That would make a nice suit for Tessy.’ So, I bought the material. Then I brought it home and made the pants and the shirt.”
How does Grandma Tessy stay so energetic? Even she doesn’t know the full answer to that question. It seems that even health issues don't keep her down for very long.“I had congestive heart failure last year,” she said. "I had a dissected aorta back in 2001. I walked into the hospital, and I told them I didn't feel right. They got the helicopter, and I went by helicopter to Riverside (Hospital.) They opened me up and they didn't test my blood or do anything. They just got me in there, repaired that aorta, and I lived. Most people don't.”
Grandma Tessy also knows that she is being well looked after.
“You see, I've got God on my side,” she said. “He's taking care of me. When I had the congestive heart failure, I walked into the doctor's office and I said, ‘I don't feel right.’ They asked me, ‘Did you drive over here? Well, you're going by ambulance to the hospital, right now.’ I thought, ‘I hope I don't have to go in a helicopter again,’ but they just drove me to the hospital, put some IVs in my arms, and drained me. I feel like, if God wants me he'll take me. That's my attitude and I hope that maybe I'll have my clown suit on. Wouldn't that be something? But, right now, I'm still doing well.”
Sadly, about a decade ago, Holmes’ husband developed dementia.
“I took care of Carl for eight-and-one-half years here,” she said. “I took care of him and he did not know who I was, but I went on with Tessy the Clown.”
Finally, Carl had to go into a nursing home in his last couple of years, but he still had one magic moment in him.
“I was doing the program over at Apple Valley and I didn't put my makeup on, but I had my earrings, my gloves, my costume, my hat and everything,” After she left Apple Valley that day to pay a visit to Carl.
“I walked into the (nursing home), and he saw me from clear across the room,” Holmes said. “He walked right over to me and said, ‘I love you.’ It was only for a moment. Then, he turned around and didn’t know me again. The nurse and I were standing there crying. There were tears rolling down our faces. It was February 8th, 2024 and I will never forget it. Never, because it was such a blessing. Carl knew me for a few seconds. That happens, that's life, and that's the way it is.”
After 50 years, the world may have changed, but Grandma Tessy is still reaching out with love and laughter.“It has been a wonderful life,” said Holmes. “Mount Vernon has been so good to us. Mount Vernon is such a good place to be. I mean, what can you ask for more than what we've got.”
