Obituary: Doris Holden, Longtime Clerk and Staff Assistant

Doris Reynolds Holden, 85, of Amherst, a clerk and staff assistant in various departments and in the office of the university president, died Jan. 24.

Born in Ludlow June 1, 1922, she was a graduate of Turners Falls High School and Northampton Commercial College and she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UMass Amherst in 1975 and 1980, respectively.

She worked as a part-time clerk in the provost’s office from 1961-63 and was a clerical assistant for the departments of geology and government and the College of Education from 1967-68. From 1970-73 she was a clerk and staff assistant in the office of the university secretary and was a staff assistant in the office of the president from 1973 until retiring in 1984.

After retiring, she volunteered in the coffee shop at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, as a docent at the Arthur F. Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies and at the Hospice Shop for the Fisher Home. She worked with Janet Dakin for the Friends of Amherst Stray Animals and continued with the Dakin Humane Society. She also served as treasurer for Edwards Church in Northampton for many years as well as for the Friends of the Amherst Senior Center. 

 The widow of Cecil R. Holden, she leaves a niece, Terry Ann Linley.

The funeral will be private with no calling hours. A memorial service will be held at Edwards Church in May.

Donations may be made to the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society, 171 Union St., Springfield 01105, or to the charity of one’s choice.