KATHY HOLMES | 1936-2007

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 | 7:22 a.m.

Kathy Holmes had an important job to do before her then-husband, the late Las Vegas architect Jim McDaniel, submitted his drawings for approval.

He would ask her which designs she thought were the best. She then gave her stamp of approval to projects that included UNLV's Judy Bayley Theatre, James Dickinson Library and Artemus Ham Hall; Child Haven, a hotel, a post office, several schools and other buildings.

If she wasn't particularly thrilled with any of the renderings, McDaniel would go back to the drawing board.

"Kathy lived and breathed all of Jimmy's university projects," said her niece, Helen Foley, a lobbyist and former Nevada state senator. "She enjoyed having had a part in creating so many local landmarks."

In 1978, McDaniel died of cancer, and two years later his widow married Las Vegas general practitioner Dr. Jack Holmes.

On Thursday, Kathleen Bradshaw McDaniel Holmes died from a fall during a visit to Southern California. She was 70.

Services for the native Las Vegan will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Christ the King Catholic Church. A vigil is set for 5:30 p.m. Friday at that location.

Holmes' role as McDaniel's muse included helping him test the acoustics in the under-construction Bayley Theatre and lugging buckets of paint to her husband as he worked on a mural at the old Dickinson library.

She also was proprietor of the Design Plus modern interiors shop on East Sahara Avenue more than 20 years ago.

Born Kathy Bradshaw on Sept. 30, 1936, in Las Vegas, she grew up on the family ranch in Elgin. She graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1954 and in her early 20s was a stewardess for Bonanza Airlines.

Holmes' other survivors include her four children, Susan Jacobsen, Jami Youngblood, John McDaniel and Dana Kanne; a stepdaughter, Lindsey Nayduch; two sisters, Betty Foley and Helen Madden; a brother, Don Bradshaw; and 11 grandchildren.

The family said donations can be made in Kathy Holmes' memory to the Ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Mission Hospital, 27700 Medical Center Road, Mission Viejo, CA 92691.