{"id":323,"date":"2026-02-01T04:58:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T04:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/02\/01\/local-college-offered-housing-to-woman-55-who-was-living-in-a-cemetery-after-her-husbands-unexpected-death-exclusive\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T04:58:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T04:58:46","slug":"local-college-offered-housing-to-woman-55-who-was-living-in-a-cemetery-after-her-husbands-unexpected-death-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/2026\/02\/01\/local-college-offered-housing-to-woman-55-who-was-living-in-a-cemetery-after-her-husbands-unexpected-death-exclusive\/","title":{"rendered":"Local College Offered Housing to Woman, 55, Who Was Living in a Cemetery After Her Husband&#8217;s Unexpected Death (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I assumed that I was going to die there,&#8221; Rhea Holmes \u2014 who also received help from police \u2014 said, referring to the graveyard<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/ulWwuh7ydYc6jWXBe7HfW44VfKo=\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)\/rhea-jamie-gofundme-012626-24f3dea1f0e646daaffc9b0689ff3ae9.jpg\" alt=\"Rhea Holmes (left) and Officer James Pastorello (right). GoFundMe\" title=\"Woman Was Living in N.Y. Cemetery After Her Husband's Untimely Death \" \/><figcaption><i>Rhea Holmes (left) and Officer James Pastorello (right). <\/i>\n<p>GoFundMe<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A woman was sleeping in the cemetery where her husband was buried after she lost her home<\/li>\n<li>Rhea Holmes, 55, said she didn\u2019t tell anyone she was homeless because she \u201cdidn\u2019t want people to worry&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>A local police officer heard about Rhea&#8217;s situation and provided life-changing help, in addition to a local college, which offered her housing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A woman experiencing homelessness was <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/movies\/stars-buried-forest-lawn-cemetery\/\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">living in the cemetery<\/a> where her late husband was buried, until a police officer stepped in. He, along with a local college, then provided aid to the woman at a time when she needed it most.<\/p>\n<p>Rhea Holmes and her husband of 26 years, Eddie Holmes, made an offer on a modest house in Syracuse in 2020. Not long after, Eddie died of a sudden heart condition, and Rhea, 55, instead used the money they were going to spend on the house to buy Eddie a burial plot at Oakwood Cemetery, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/woman-sleeping-syracuse-oakwood-cemetery-husband-buried-officer-comes-to-her-rescue\/\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">CBS News<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.syracuse.com\/news\/2026\/01\/how-a-police-officer-helped-a-woman-sleeping-in-a-syracuse-cemetery-find-a-home.html\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"2\">Syracuse.com<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>Eddie&#8217;s death sent Rhea, who worked as an administrative assistant at a hospital, into a depression, causing her to lose her job, and she was eventually <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/denise-richards-aaron-phypers-evicted-from-l-a-home-after-allegedly-failing-to-pay-usd84-000-in-rent-11877565\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">evicted<\/a> from her home \u2014 which is when she started sleeping by her husband\u2019s grave.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is what I purchased,&#8221; Rhea told CBS News while standing in front of Eddie\u2019s plot. She added that she didn\u2019t tell others that she had lost her home because she \u201cdidn\u2019t want people to worry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I assumed that I was going to die there,&#8221; Rhea continued, referring to the graveyard.<\/p>\n<p>Cemetery staff eventually alerted local police to the fact that a woman was sleeping on the property.<\/p>\n<p>Officer James Pastorello heard about the situation and realized that he actually knew Rhea, as he had given her a ride to the cemetery just a few days earlier, assuming she was merely stopping by to visit a late loved one, according to Syracuse.com.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\"> PEOPLE&#8217;s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was completely shocked,\u201d Pastorello, 33, told the outlet. \u201cWhen I found out she was <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/woman-shares-video-of-man-who-set-up-bedroom-nyc-apartment-backyard-11701751\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">sleeping outside<\/a>, especially with how cold it was getting, that really hit me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pastorello determined he needed to take action, so he purchased a hotel room for Rhea. The police officer then began reaching out to others in his local network to see if anyone could help him find her a more permanent living situation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/tMZQl0S__sFAC7y9bZtAGVmyLM4=\/fit-in\/1280x960\/rhea-jamie-gofundme-2-012626-93bd9a3130ea49e9a57871cc3cdafa54.jpg\" alt=\"Rhea Holmes (left) and Officer James Pastorello (right). GoFundMe\" title=\"Woman Was Living in N.Y. Cemetery After Her Husband's Untimely Death \" \/><figcaption><i>Rhea Holmes (left) and Officer James Pastorello (right). <\/i>\n<p>GoFundMe<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A friend ultimately connected Pastorello to Linda LeMura, president of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lemoyne.edu\/\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">Le Moyne College<\/a>, and she offered to temporarily house Rhea in an unused home on campus while school was out for winter break.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was clear that\u00a0Rhea&#8217;s\u00a0situation was dire,&#8221; LeMura told PEOPLE. &#8220;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\u00a0identified.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The college administrator added that helping Rhea &#8220;was immediate,&#8221; explaining, &#8220;Le Moyne&#8217;s mission calls on us to serve others with a strong commitment to social justice, so helping Rhea is simply something that is in our DNA.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Officer Pastorello then established a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-rhea-find-a-safe-and-stable-home\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\" rel=\"nofollow\">GoFundMe<\/a> to help Rhea secure permanent housing, so she could &#8220;begin rebuilding her life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Word spread about Rhea\u2019s situation, and the nonprofit\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.syracuse.com\/news\/2022\/09\/as-more-go-homeless-can-syracuses-tiny-home-builder-play-a-bigger-role-in-the-solution.html\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"externalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">A Tiny Home for Good<\/a>, which provides small homes to people in need \u2014 and was founded by a Le Moyne alumnus \u2014 reached out to help offer placement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rhea was then able to move into a one-bedroom, 300-square-foot house on Jan. 5.\u00a0\u201cI wasn\u2019t thinking past getting through the day before. Now I can,\u201d Rhea told Syracuse.com.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-puzzler-8620185\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\"><strong>The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/ig0TtsGw7535trKG0trsTxtZGV4=\/fit-in\/640x480\/Rhea-Holmes-12926-2a0095d01fde45cfbc29e1d8c5bb103d.jpg\" alt=\"Le Moyne College security officer Paul Rose (left) with Rhea Holmes (right). Le Moyne College\" title=\"Rhea Holmes, Woman Was Living in N.Y. Cemetery After Her Husband\u2019s Untimely Death \" \/><figcaption><i>Le Moyne College security officer Paul Rose (left) with Rhea Holmes (right). <\/i>\n<p>Le Moyne College<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMy old house was so close to the cemetery, and this feels like a true new beginning,\u201d the woman, who now calls Officer Pastorello <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/woman-looking-for-person-who-saved-her-life-after-suffering-cardiac-arrest-11871365\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-type=\"internalLink\" data-ordinal=\"1\">her \u201cangel,\u201d<\/a> added. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing. I don\u2019t even have the words to describe it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many people feel invisible,\u201d Rhea continued. \u201cAll it took was one person stopping to care.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I assumed that I was going to die there,&#8221; Rhea Holmes \u2014 who also received help from police \u2014 said, referring to the graveyard Rhea Holmes (left) and Officer James Pastorello (right). GoFundMe NEED TO KNOW A woman was sleeping in the cemetery where her husband was buried after she lost her home Rhea Holmes, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everything-else"],"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"1":{"name":"Everything Else","link":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/category\/everything-else\/"}},"tags_names":[],"comments_number":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adsandthings.com\/winews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}