Lois Rose (Sevigny) Hollenbeck
Lois Rose (Sevigny) Hollenbeck, a Skidmore graduate and assistant professor emerita
of biology, died April 29, 2010, in Valatie, N.Y.
Born September 26, 1925, in Hanover, N.H., Lois was a graduate of Lebanon (N.H.) High
School. She earned a B.A. degree at Skidmore in 1946 and an M.S. degree at the University
of Minnesota in 1950.
She joined the Skidmore faculty in 1946 as an assistant professor and taught until
her retirement in 1973.
Denton Crocker, professor emeritus of biology, chaired the department for much of
the time that Lois taught at Skidmore. He remembered that her career spanned a period
of change in the teaching of biology, when the subject was moving toward more molecular
aspects. She was able to adapt to these changes and even contributed to the development
of a new course on radiation biology. Lois, he added, “was a hard worker who had a
fine rapport with her students. She was a loyal Skidmore graduate who always had in
mind the interests of the department.”
Lois was active in the American Association of University Women, the Katrina Trask
Garden Club, and several environmental organizations. She was an avid reader and enjoyed
travel.
She is survived by a daughter, Katherine R. (John) Gulisane, of Valatie; five grandchildren:
Daniel, Jared, Joseph, Jacob, and Angela Gulisane; a great-grandchild, Violet Gulisane;
and several nieces and nephews.
Her husband, Martin E. Hollenbeck, and her brother, James J. Sevigny, predeceased
her.
Interment was at the Johnstown Cemetery.