Peter Alexander Holland ’60

Peter Alexander Holland ’60 died at the Southgate Retirement Community in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, on September 9, 2019. He was born on February 27, 1937, in Boston and rowed crew and graduated from Middlesex School. At Dartmouth he majored in history, rowed for four years on the heavyweight crew, joined Psi Upsilon, and completed the Army ROTC program. After graduation he served in the U.S. Army during the Cuban missile crisis. In February 1961 he married Marjorie Lynn, a paralegal secretary who graduated with a B.A. from Columbia University. In 1965 Pete earned a master’s in history from Wesleyan University. He went on to fulfill his life’s dream of working as a crew coach. At Dartmouth Pete coached the freshman heavyweight crew from 1966 until 1969. In 1969 he became an associate professor of physical education at MIT. From that year until 1996, Pete was a central figure at the Pierce Boat House, spending time coaching varsity heavyweight and lightweight crews. Pete’s 1975 MIT second varsity heavyweight 8 won its event at the prestigious IRA regatta and his varsity heavyweight 8 earned a silver medal—both performances still stand as the best finishes for MIT in that regatta. Retiring in 1996, he served as a volunteer coach for several years at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. He was predeceased by his wife, Marjorie.