In Memoriam
Terry M. Holcombe
Terry Holcombe died on June 5, 2023. Here are the following remembrances:
- Obituary, The New Haven Register
- Memorial Service
- Obituary, YaleNews
- Remembrance, Tony Lavely ’64
- Remembrance, John Hunsaker ’64
Obituary
The New Haven Register
June 8, 2023
Terry Holcombe
1964 Yale graduation
Terry M. Holcombe died on June 5, 2023 at Yale New Haven Hospital, the same hospital in which he was born. He was surrounded by his loving family. He was 81.
A proud East Haven, CT native who was Captain of the East Haven High School football team and All State football '59 , Terry matriculated at Yale University class of 1964. After graduating, he earned a master's degree from the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He also holds honorary master's degrees from Yale and Muskingham Universities.
For nine years after graduating from Yale, he was executive director for ACCION International, a nonprofit corporation providing grants and technical assistance to development projects in Latin America. He was then Vice President of Whittier College in California.
Terry Holcombe
in recent years
Eager to return to his New Haven roots, he became Executive Director of the record-breaking Campaign for Yale from 1976-1978. He then moved to Columbia University as Vice President of Development, only to return to Yale as the Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs from 1982-1998. A large personality, whose straight talk, rapier wit, and gregarious nature gave him a high profile and made him a favorite in the development community, Holcombe twice led the University in history-making capital campaigns, including the record breaking 1.7 billion dollar "…and for Yale" campaign, which concluded in 1997. At the time, it was the largest amount ever raised by an educational institution.
Holcombe did not fit the natural profile of a fundraiser for an elite institution. He never lost the sense of his East Haven roots, or his position as an "inside-outside" man: someone who was an officer of the university, a senior member of the Yale administration, and yet a "townie," one who looked at Yale from the outside as well as the inside. Holcombe stayed connected to Yale until the end.
Terry and Marya
He and his wife, Marya, gave years of service to some of New Haven's most vulnerable communities, especially to New Haven's Sunrise Café, a volunteer organization that feeds breakfast to a food-insecure community and offers a refuge for rest and help with life's challenges. A tireless volunteer, he served on the boards of many institutions, including Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, Camp Keewaydin, the Yale Alumni Fund, the Buckley Institute, Hopkins School, the Neighborhood Music School, and Mory's.
His family home after retirement has been in Walpole, New Hampshire, and he is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marya, his daughters Kerry Auld (Christopher), Brette Fitton, and Marjorie Elliott (Justin), his son Samuel Holcombe, and his adored grandchildren Audrey Logan, Angus Auld, and Euan Auld, and his best four-legged friend, Cash.
Burial will be private. There will be a celebration of life for family and friends on Sunday, October 29 at 1:30pm at the Elm City Club, 155 Elm Street, New Haven. In lieu of flowers, the family asks you to consider donating to the Vox Church, 131 Commercial Parkway, Building 1, Branford, CT 06405; Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, 708 Kurn Hatton Road, Westminster VT 05158; or the Buckley Institute, 234 Church Street, 7th Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.
Arrangements are with the Hawley Lincoln Memorial.
Memorial Service
A Celebration of Life was held for Terry Holcombe on Sunday, October 29, 2023 at The Elm City Club, New Haven. Here is the program and, below that, the video recording.
Obituary
Terry M. Holcombe, who helped secure a strong financial future for Yale
YaleNews
June 8, 2023
Terry M. Holcombe ’64, Yale’s vice president for development and alumni affairs from 1982 to 1998, died on June 5 at Yale New Haven Hospital, the same hospital in which he was born. He was 81.
A large personality, whose straight talk, rapier wit, and gregarious nature gave him a high profile and made him a favorite among university donors, Holcombe twice led Yale in history-making capital campaigns, including the record-breaking $1.7 billion “…and for Yale” campaign which concluded in 1997. At the time it was the largest amount ever raised by an educational institution.
That campaign was the second major fundraising effort that Holcombe led at the university. As executive director of The Campaign for Yale, completed in 1979, during the tenure of President A. Bartlett Giamatti, he helped raise more than $370 million in capital funds, at the time an exceptionally high bar for university fund-raising. In between that first campaign and the second, he served in the same capacity at Columbia University, where during his tenure total giving increased by 27% and the number of alumni donors grew by 10,000.
“Terry’s service was at the foundation of modern giving to Yale,” said Yale President Peter Salovey on hearing of Holcombe’s death. “Much that we take for granted now would have been impossible without the contributions made during the Holcombe era.”
President Emeritus Richard Levin added, “Over the course of his distinguished career, Terry Holcombe counseled six Yale presidents, offering wise advice on the interests, needs, and potential generosity of our alumni. His success as a fundraiser hinged on his deep insight into people. He was an astute judge of talent. Two members of his team served as successors in his role as vice president, and many others went on to lead development efforts elsewhere. Intensely loyal to his alma mater, the class of 1964, friends, and colleagues, he was widely admired and respected.”
Dorothy Robinson, Yale’s retired vice president and chief legal counsel of 30 years, reflected further on his role as university leader and on her continuing friendship. She remembered Holcombe’s shrewd common sense and perspicacity, and the way he cut to the heart of things with humor and wit. “I’ve lost an irreplaceable friend,” she said.
Holcombe was legendary at occasionally using comedy, not pressure, to persuade others to commit to service or philanthropy. Here's a typical story. Once at a reunion of his class when cell phones were new, he asked a friend for his cell number. Twenty minutes later during a reunion meeting the friend’s cell rang. He hadn’t yet figured out “mute,” so he hastily left the room to answer. When he did, Holcombe’s voice on the other end said, “You were the first to leave the room, so you have now been elected unanimously as the chairman of the ’64 reunion.” The friend complied.
Holcombe stayed connected to Yale and its development office long after he retired. “Terry was deeply committed to long-term relationship-building and he instilled this in the staff team he led,” said Joan O’Neill, the current vice president for alumni affairs and development. “He continued to advise and counsel me as well as many other former staff members, and we could always count on him for wisdom and support.”
Holcombe did not fit the natural profile of a fundraiser for an elite institution. He was an East Haven, Connecticut native who graduated from East Haven High School and never lost the sense of his East Haven roots, or his position as an “inside-outside” man: someone who was an officer of the university, a senior member of the Yale administration, and yet also a “townie,” one who looked at Yale from the outside as well as the inside.
He and his wife of 57 years, Marya, gave years of service to some of New Haven’s most vulnerable communities, especially through New Haven’s Sunrise Café, a volunteer organization that feeds breakfast to a food-unsecure community and offers a refuge and support for overcoming life’s challenges. A tireless volunteer, he served on the boards of many institutions, including Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, Camp Keewaydin, the Yale Alumni Fund, the Buckley Institute, and Mory’s.
James Duderstadt ’64, president emeritus of the University of Michigan, gratefully remembers how Holcombe persuaded him to come to Yale. Born and raised in the small farm town of Carrollton, Missouri, Duderstadt recalls how his friend of 60 years induced him to matriculate and play football at Yale, and even met him at the airport when he arrived.
“Except for him,” Duderstadt says, “I likely would have gone to the University of Missouri.” As undergraduates they became roommates, played football side by side, and in later years remained close, benefitting from many discussions about institutional priorities and leadership.
Fay Vincent ’63 J.D., the former commissioner of Major League Baseball, recalled his close friend as a “kid from East Haven who always was surprised when introduced as a Yale vice president,” a man of “stunning skills and insights who was a confidant and intimate counselor to President Bart Giamatti,” and was always able to provide “wisdom out of tough insights and humor.” His personal loss, he said, was “immense.”
After graduating from Yale College, Holcombe earned a master's degree from the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. For nine years he was executive director for ACCION International, a nonprofit corporation providing grants and technical assistance to development projects in Latin America.
Holcombe, whose family home after retirement has been in Walpole, New Hampshire, is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marya; his daughters, Kerry Auld (Christopher), Brette Fitton, and Marjorie Elliott (Justin); his son, Samuel Holcombe; his adored grandchildren, Audrey Logan, Angus Auld, and Euan Auld; and his best four-legged friend, Cash.
Burial will be private. There will be a celebration of life for family and friends later in the summer. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Vox Church, 131 Commercial Parkway, Building 1, Branford, CT, 06405; Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, 708 Kurn Hatton Road, Westminster, VT., 05158; or the Buckley Institute, 234 Church Street, 7th Floor, New Haven, CT, 06510.
Remembrance, Tony Lavely ’64
June 20, 2023
The news of Terry Holcombe’s sudden death on June 5 hit me hard. One of my obligatory duties as Class Secretary is to receive and post obituaries of classmates (286 are currently on our Class website). Yet, I was not emotionally prepared for Terry’s death. He had the perpetual youthfulness and enthusiasm that always signaled another day … another duty.
Terry and I met as freshman football teammates in 1960 and stayed connected over the years. Sophomore year, we became fraternity brothers at Beta Theta Pi. Later visits with Marya and Terry at their seaside home in Branford are still memorable.
Terry’s devotion to Yale, as both an officer and a volunteer, produced lasting legacies on campus: Kroon Hall, Evans Hall, Mory’s renovation, Benjamin Franklin College Gate, to name a few. At the news of Terry’s death, I counted 39 articles about him on our Class website (see the list here).
Terry was a permanent member of the 1964 Class Council and handed me the baton as Class Secretary in 2004. In 2006, I asked Marya and Terry to be my guests at the VIP opening of Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Providence RI. As we paraded through the kitchen in a “second line,” wearing our Mardi Gras beads and hats, Terry yelled, “Lavely, this isn’t your job (I was EVP of Ruth’s), it’s a party!” I think Terry felt that way about Yale, too.
At the Class Council meeting in Rose Alumni House in February 2023, he was already proposing initiatives for our 60th Class Reunion in 2024. His wise counsel and contagious enthusiasm were present, as always. His laughter and, yes, sardonic humor washed across the table during our dinner in the Captain’s Room at Mory’s.
Shortly before our February 2023 Class Council meeting, I sent Terry an email asking him to “re-up” for another term through 2029. In what now reads as a poignant reply he responded: “Yes, I wish to stand for another term, on the off chance that I last that long.”
Our last communication was in May of this year when Terry called to offer his regrets for not being able to attend my wedding in Minnesota on May 19.
Farewell, my brother, your legacy lives in our hearts.
Remembrance, John Hunsaker ’64
November 13, 2023
Terry was the very first non-Illinois classmate-to-be I met during our registration on that hot late summer day, September 15, 1960 on the Old Campus. Somehow he knew I had signed up to try out for the freshman football team. Of course, as an all-star lineman from East Haven, he was eager to get to the practice fields for combat with about one hundred classmates. With his ever-present broad grin and captivating exuberance, he came to me and some other wannabe footballers, welcomed us to New Haven, drove us around and introduced us to the town and campus, and with unmatched hospitality made us all feel welcome in the stressful context of becoming a member of the renowned Yale family.
This approach to others never changed throughout his life. He was authentic, a genial class act, whose ability to create humor in all circumstances matched his bright smile. The only exception to this state of affairs became ferociously incandescent when his residential college [our football participation for Yale evaporated after frosh year], Saybrook, challenged mine, Trumbull, on the intramural football field. The smile changed to grim purpose, and most of the time he and his teammates were victorious.
Our contacts were sparse thereafter except for the quinquennial reunions when renewal of our friendship was as if we were never apart. Those have always been fulfilling, happy times. I remember during one reunion a bunch of us, led by Terry, went on a vigorous, but respectful, nocturnal jaunt through the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library [yes, built during our time]. Those old tomes survived!
Terry’s death in 2023 was equally as shocking as the recent death of another dear friend of his and ours, our equally esteemed classmate, Chris Getman. I always believed that Chris was the Yaliest of Yalies. Yet, as Terry’s love and dedication to Yale from that first day became clear, his enormous contributions to Lux et Veritas and our community and beyond endure and continue to be recognized by so many constituencies, both within and outside Yale. This German proverb surely applies: Wohlgethan überlebt den Tod. [That which is well done survives death.] So I am unable to say that Chris out-Yaled Terry. We can look at their tandem incredible, humane contributions to Yale and be deeply grateful that they are and will always be part of our distinctive class. I pray his loved ones indeed rejoice in his life well lived.