Father of resident, avid gardener, committed to social justice
Warren Hollinshead. (Courtesy photo)
Warren Henry Hollinshead, age 89, died peacefully surrounded by love on Jan. 25, 2025. He was born in Durham, North Carolina, in 1935 to William Henry Hollinshead and Isobel Barker Hollinshead, and was the devoted younger brother to Betty Layne Hollinshead Long. He met Marilyn Rae Peterson, his lifelong love, in seventh grade after his family moved to Rochester, Minnesota. Reflecting on their 68-year marriage, he would often say she was the “best decision I ever made.”
Warren graduated from Amherst College in 1957 and from Harvard Law School in1960. He practiced law with Hale, Russell and Nickerson law firm in New York City for four years before embarking on a 30-year career with Westinghouse Electric, starting as an international corporate attorney and culminating as their chief financial officer. His work enabled the family to live in London for four years before they settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Marilyn and Warren loved England’s rich history and took the family on numerous vacations renting historical homes and visiting as many museums, castles, old churches, and ancient ruins as they could manage with four children in tow.
Warren loved his family, and when he wasn’t navigating international business deals enjoyed digging in the dirt to plant flower gardens. In the early ‘60s he and Marilyn rented a property on Martha’s Vineyard that had no electricity and required a two-stroke engine to pump water for the house. After renting for 25 years, they bought adjacent land on Tisbury Great Pond. There they built a house where Warren laid stone walkways, weeded his driveway with a screwdriver in tattered Brooks Brothers button-downs, planted his flower garden, and served on the board, then as the president of the MV Historical Society (now Museum). As a testament to their dedication supporting the museum, the primary rotating exhibit hall at the museum is named in his and Marilyn’s honor.
An avid reader, and devotee of all writings about Thomas Jefferson, Warren firmly believed in helping those who were less privileged, securing the rights of women and marginalized people, and democratic values. Warren often said that one of the people he respected most was a prison guard with a gentle soul who was a fellow member of their church in Pittsburgh, which was a multiracial blend of congregations from separate churches in the 1960s who worked together on improving racial relations. In retirement they became permanent residents of West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard, eventually moving to Brookhaven, a retirement community in Lexington. The world has lost a remarkably kind, loving, and truly generous soul with his death.
Warren is survived by his wife, Marilyn; four children and their families: William (Pat) Hollinshead of Milford, New Hampshire; Anne DeCourcey (Ted) of Denver, Colorado; Ellen Hollinshead (Jeffrey Bergeron) of Breckenridge, Colorado; and Dana Hollinshead (Todd Gill) of Harvard. He also leaves five grandchildren: Warren (Allison) Hollinshead, Emma and Matthew DeCourcey, Evan and Lauren Gill; a great-granddaughter, Willa Hollinshead; and an array of devoted nieces and nephews and their children with North Carolina or Minnesota roots. Services will be private. Memorial donations can be given to Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
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