Terry Holcombe

1942 - 2023

Terry Holcombe
June 5, 2023
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.
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.
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 later in the summer. 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.