April 3, 1932 - November 28, 2023
Holm
Duane Stanley Holm was born on the family farm in Denmark, Kansas on April 3, 1932. His father accepted a role in the Farm Security Administration, a New Deal program, and the family moved several times in Kansas and Texas, before settling in suburban Washington, D.C. He attended Penn State, graduating with a degree in Forestry, before attending Yale Divinity School and being ordained as a Presbyterian minister. His ministerial training took him first to Scotland, and then Chicago, where he met his future wife, Cecelia Campbell, while working at Erie Neighborhood House. Duane then returned to Scotland, becoming an interim pastor at a church in Glasgow, and they married in Scotland in 1958.
With their daughter Kirsten they returned to Chicago, and Duane led Third Presbyterian Church on the South Side for several years. In 1968 he answered the call to come to Cincinnati, to lead what was to be one of three experimental congregations focusing on racial reconciliation, in the face of waves of protests in Ohio and around the county. The family moved to Kennedy Heights, a neighborhood that was consciously forging its identity and sense of community as a neighborhood integrated by choice.
Continuing to combine faith and social justice, Duane became the director of the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati (MARCC) in 1971. MAARC was a young organization that brought together representatives of 14 different faiths and denominations to coordinate the faith communitys response to issues, ranging from segregation to education, homelessness and hunger, and criminal justice reform. This work filled the rest of his working life and brought him the incomparable opportunity to work with and learn from many people religious and not, of all political persuasions all striving toward a more equitable society.
In this role, Duane became involved in the lawsuit to end segregation in Cincinnati public schools, Bronson v. Board of Education. He was also involved in the Collaborative Agreement, a wide-ranging and innovative cooperative plan to improve police-community relations in Cincinnati. And for more than 30 years, as the leader of MARCC and as a resident of Kennedy Heights, he continued to find ways to bring people together to right wrongs, fight for social justice, make Cincinnati a more just and equitable city, and build the beloved community.
Duane retired in 2006 and cared for his wife Cecelia following a stroke in 2008, until her death in 2019. He enjoyed reading, observing the natural world, and watching his grandchildren grow.
He is survived by his sisters; Janice Lloyd of North Carolina, and Patricia Lister, of Virginia; his daughters Kirsten Holm of Cincinnati, Alison Holm of Columbus, and Susanna Holm (Lynn Neal) of Flagstaff, Arizona. Also by three grandchildren: Adam Johnston (Priscilla) of Los Angeles, Andrew Johnston (Kait) of Austin, and Hope Johnston-Holm of Cincinnati, as well as two great grandchildren, Zoe and Sam. He will be missed by all.
A celebration of life will be held at Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church at 2:00pm on Saturday, December 9th 2023 (103 William Howard Taft Road, Cincinnati, OH 45219). In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Duanes memory to the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati at www.marcconline.com/donate, and The Caring Place at 6312 Kennedy Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio 45213 or https://www.facebook.com/thecaringplacekh.
Special online condolences can be made for family and friends at www.jcbattleandsons.com