Douglas T. “Doug” Holmes

Douglas T. Holmes, a native of Barnstable who spent most of his adult life in Dover, Mass., died Feb. 18 after a lengthy illness.

He was the son of Vivian Souza of Hingham, Mass. and the late Cecil Holmes. He was 62 years old.

Besides his mother, he is survived by his two daughters, Jessica Holmes of Leominster, Mass. and Kira Holmes of Dover, Mass. a student at William & Mary College in Virginia, and his former wife, Cindy Holmes; also his sister, Marcia Green of Cumberland, R.I. and her husband, Alan; four nephews as well as grand nieces and nephews. 

Doug, a certified financial analyst, was a graduate of Barnstable High School and a 1977 graduate of Northeastern University and worked for 25 years for State Street Global Advisors of Boston, heading up the Global enhanced Equity Group. He designed and co-created the very first “Exchange Traded Fund,” the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. The ETF concept has since grown into a significant investment method and the fund Doug developed is still the largest exchange traded fund in the market.

Earlier in his career he had been employed at MIT’s Draper Labs in Cambridge and was a software engineer at Batterymarch Financial Management in Boston, where he designed one of the first online trading systems.  In later years, he was a financial consultant at Rydex Investments in Rockville, Maryland.  Doug was also an avid amateur race car driver and member of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) for more than 30 years.   He drove formula and streetcar-based race cars and worked extensively in the New England region of SCCA in various capacities.  

Friends and family are invited to a Celebration of Life service on Saturday, March 11 beginning at the Crocker Park Cemetery, Church Street, in Barnstable at 11 a.m. 

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer’s Association would be appreciated.