Shepherd Monson Holcombe Sr.

Shepherd Monson Holcombe, Sr. died on November 28, 2012. He was born in Northampton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1921, and grew up in the house in which his family had lived since 1840 on Spring Street in Hartford, a city he loved and in which he raised his family and lived his exemplary life. Following graduation from Yale in 1943, he completed the meteorology course at New York University and became the weather officer for the 459th Bomb Group, serving as Captain in Southern Italy and receiving the Bronze Star. From 1945 until 1968 he worked for Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. as an actuary and head of the Actuarial Consulting Department in Group Pensions. In 1969 he left to found the actuarial consulting firm of Hooker & Holcombe, from which he retired in 1989. His involvements in Hartford reflect his devotion to the city and its history and cultural institutions. He served as a member on the boards of the Wadsworth Atheneum, Connecticut Historical Society, Old State House, Bushnell Memorial, Spring Grove Cemetery, and Warburton Chapel Trustees. His generosity is reflected in the Shepherd M. Holcombe Archives, created at the Bushnell Memorial in 2000, the purchase of the sideboard for the Mark Twain House, and the Emily Seymour Goodwin Holcombe Education Center at the Old State House to honor his grandmother's work. He served as governor of the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford and Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut, President of the Mental Health Association of Hartford, and Moderator of Weekapaug, Rhode Island, the beach community which he dearly loved. During retirement, he was President and then Chairman of Hartford's Ancient Burying Ground Association, working tirelessly for restoration and preservation and continuing work begun by his grandmother. Shep's positive, cheerful attitude and his unwavering enthusiasm in all aspects of life kept him vital and productive through nine decades. He is survived by his children Shepherd and wife Betsy, Anne, and Emily, and granddaughter Tally, sisters-in¬-law Jeanne Holcombe and Lucy Holcombe, as well as stepdaughters Claire Porter, Anne and husband Tim Hemingway, and Jane and husband Bill Berry, and five step-grandchildren. He was predeceased by first wife Catherine Smith and second wife Betty Wiese (McIlwaine), and brothers Harold and Seth. A memorial service will be held at the First Church of Christ (Center Church), 675 Main Street, Hartford at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, December 8, to be followed by a reception at the Hartford Golf Club, 134 Norwood Rd., West Hartford. Donations may be made to the Ancient Burying Ground Association (ABGA), P.O. Box 231257, Hartford CT 06123-1257.

Shepherd Monson Holcombe Sr.

June 12, 1921 - November 28, 2012