Longtime Inverness weekender Richard Holton, a former
dean of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley who also served as
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs under President
John F. Kennedy, died at his Berkeley home on Monday, Oct. 24, of complications
from stomach cancer and Parkinson's Disease. He was 79.
In 1957 Dr. Holton left a post as assistant professor
of economics at Harvard, where he'd earned his doctorate, to begin teaching
at UC Berkeley, remaining there for the rest of his career.
A leader in the field of international business, for
five years in the early 1980s Dr. Holton commuted between Berkeley and
China to the Dalien Institute of Technology, teaching Communists, in
effect, how to become capitalists. He wrote many articles on the emergence
of a market-based economy in China, and co-authored a book, "United
States-China Relations" (1989).
Beach caretaker
"He was very modest and genuinely surprised and honored
by every position and award bestowed upon him," said his daughter, Jane
Kriss of Inverness. "Dad's work was demanding, but when he was home,
he was very present for us."
A gentle man, tall and redheaded, with high color
in his cheeks and a friendly face, Dr. Holton and his wife, Constance,
bought their vacation home on Balmoral Way in 1969.
"Whenever Dad was recruiting someone to teach at the
Haas School of Business, an Inverness overnight was an important part
of the red-carpet treatment," his daughter said. Each winter the Holtons
hosted a mussel feast for Berkeley friends that began with guests gathering
the bivalves at McClure's Beach.
Active in the Inverness Yacht Club and the Inverness
Tennis Club, Dr. Holton was a self-appointed conservator of Chicken
Ranch Beach, raking away pebbles to create a path to Tomales Bay.
London, Oxford, Cambridge
"He was the last architect of the changing room,"
said Ginny Brownback of Inverness, recalling Dr. Holton building a fence
that swimmers could change behind and installing hooks for their use.
Said longtime friend Norma Wells of Inverness, "he
was just a wonderful man . . . a smart man with great integrity."
Born in London, Ohio, on March 17, 1926, young Dick
Holton was the son of a civil engineer and a teacher. He earned a bachelor's
degree in economics at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he also
worked as a hasher in the dining hall, and where he met his future wife,
Constance Minzey. At the time of his death, the couple had been married
nearly 60 years.
He earned a master's degree in economics at Ohio State
University in Columbus, followed by a Ph.D. at Harvard University, where
he was an assistant professor of economics from 1953 to 1957.
"Dad liked to say he was born in London, went to school
at Oxford, and taught at Cambridge," his daughter joked. "Of course
it was London, Ohio; Oxford, Ohio; and Cambridge, Massachusetts."
Appointed by Kennedy
In his early years at UC Berkeley he served as director
of the university's Institute of Business and Economics Research. In
February 1963, President John F. Kennedy appointed him assistant secretary
of commerce.
"The assassination of President Kennedy affected him
deeply," his daughter said. "He stayed on in the administration until
Johnson's inauguration, at which point he returned to UC Berkeley."
In 1967 he was appointed dean of the Haas School of
Business. During his tenure Dr. Holton launched courses in entrepreneurship
and business development, developed the school's first curriculum for
international business studies, and began its evening and weekend MBA
programs.
He sang bass with the school's all-male Monks Chorus,
a century-old choral group with singers clad in Franciscan garb. He
also traveled extensively in China and led UC Alumni trips there.
One unfulfilled dream
"Traveling played a huge part in our upbringing,"
his daughter said. "We spent three summers in Greece, an academic year
in Rome, and two years in Washington, DC."
At the end of his life Dr. Holton's only unfulfilled
dream, noted family members, was seeing the Democratic Party regain
power in Washington.
He is survived by his wife, Constance Holton of Berkeley;
daughters, Melissa Holton of Inverness and Moss Landing; Jane Kriss
of Inverness; son, Tim Holton of Berkeley; brother, David Holton, of
Washington, DC; and three grandchildren, Jesse, Peter, and Ella.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday,
November 20, at the Faculty Club at UC Berkeley.
Family members suggest that any memorial contributions
be made to Doctors Without Borders: www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate.