NEW YORK CITY - Thomas Eaton Holden passed away October 3, 2011 at the age of 85 in New York City. He was born October 18, 1925, the sixth child of Martha Edith Winston and Sidney Cleveland Holden. Eaton grew up in Louisburg, N.C. and graduated from W.R. Mills High School in 1942. After a year at Louisburg College, he followed his buddies into the Army. He trained as an Artillery officer and joined an Artillery Battalion at Fort Bragg. His unit was sent to Canterbury, England and later he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was then detached to Aachen, Germany, where he ran an officers billet until VE Day.

Back in the States after the war, he enrolled at UNC Chapel Hill and finished with a degree in business. Following graduation, he worked for Sears and later The News and Observer in Raleigh for 10 years. He then moved to New York where he worked on Wall Street, for Forbes Magazine, Squibb, and at the Central Park Conservancy, which restored Central Park.

He is survived by his friend and traveling companion, Michael Peskoff, and by nieces and nephews: Cember Carella (Larry), Sidney Holden (Cynthia), Tom Holden (Susan), John H. Parrish (Phyllis), Tom Parrish (Terry), Nancy Turner, James A. Turner, III (Ann), Frank Freeman (Nina), Vell Bennett (Reney), Martha Davis (Charles) and their children and grandchildren—a large and loving family who always looked forward to Uncle Eaton’s visits to North Carolina.

A memorial service celebrating Eaton’s life will be held at a later date.

Paid Obituary