Founding Conservancy board member Sheldon Holen passed away peacefully at home on October 6, 2023, surrounded by his family. Sheldon was the original President of the Friends of Tregaron, the group of volunteers who worked with many community partners, over 25 years, to preserve the landscape before the Conservancy was founded. We are deeply grateful for Sheldon’s dedication to Tregaron and for his leadership and generosity in establishing the Conservancy to preserve and steward this historic landscape in perpetuity.
Born in 1932 in Baltimore, he graduated from Johns Hopkins and completed dental school at the University of Maryland. He served as an officer in the Army in Korea and moved to New York City. He initially took up residence in Greenwich Village and participated in a writing workshop the year after Jack Kerouac.
Sheldon was a well-respected periodontist, known as a teacher and mentor in the field. He took up painting later in life and became a skilled artist who worked with a critique group of fellow painters over many years.
His wide-ranging interests included science, art, literature, music, and economics. He spent countless hours at museums and loved to bicycle and ski. Neighbors recall seeing him cross-country ski up the street whenever there was enough snow. He cared deeply about Cleveland Park, where he lived for over 55 years and was a long-time leader in the community. He enjoyed greeting neighbors from the front porch up to his final days.
He is survived by his wife Arlene Holen; daughter Margaret Holen, her husband David Coulson and sons Theo and Seth; daughter Jackie Holen, her husband Bill Jackson and daughters Claire and Arlie; and his sister Carolyn Rodner.
