Warren Henry Hollinshead died peacefully and surrounded by love on Jan. 25. He was 89.

He was born in Durham, N.C. on December 1935 to William Henry Hollinshead and Isobel Barker Hollinshead, and was the devoted younger brother to Betty Layne Hollinshead Long, each of whom predeceased him.

He met Marilyn Rae Peterson, his lifelong love, in seventh grade after his family moved to Rochester, Minn. In his later years, reflecting on their 68-year marriage, he would often say she was the “best decision I ever made” (she, of course, says she played a part in that decision, too).

Warren attended Amherst College, graduating in 1957 and, despite a D in physics, went to Harvard Law School (1960), practiced law with Hale, Russell and Nickerson law firm in NYC 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, England for four years before they settled in Pittsburgh. Their time in England was incredibly special. Marilyn and Warren loved its 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, tolerated Marilyn’s love for Mahler, and when he wasn’t navigating international business deals from Argentina to Saudi Arabia to Ireland, he enjoyed digging in the dirt to plant flower gardens. In the early 60s, family friends introduced them to a property on the Vineyard that had no electricity and required manually to start 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, including MV Agricultural Fair blue-ribbon dahlias, and served on the board, then as the president of the Dukes County Historical Society (now Museum). As a testament to their dedication supporting the museum, the primary rotating exhibit hall space at the museum is named in his and Marilyn’s honor.

An avid reader and devotee of all writings about Thomas Jefferson, Warren was known as a principled, straight shooter, who firmly believed in helping those who were less privileged, securing the rights of women and marginalized people, and democratic values (the latter of which was a surprise to those who offered him the role of Treasurer for the Allegheny County Republican Party).

He 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 blend of black and white congregations from separate churches in the 1960s, who joined together to work on improving racial relations. In retirement, they became permanent residents of West Tisbury, joined the Chilmark Community Church, and ultimately divided their time between the Vineyard and Brookhaven, a retirement community in Lexington.

The world has lost a remarkably kind, loving and truly generous soul with his passing.

Warren is survived by his wife, Marilyn, four children and their families: William (Pat) Hollinshead of Milford, N.H.; Anne DeCourcey (Ted) of Denver, Colo.; Ellen Hollinshead (Jeffrey Bergeron) of Breckenridge, Colo.; 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. Memorials can be given to Martha’s Vineyard Museum.