The Reverend Bill Holden, parish minister, social worker, civil rights activist, youth advisor, and consultant to countless Unitarian Universalist congregations, died on August, 22, 2014, aged 83.

William L. Holden was born to William L. and Gladys Holden in Boston on June 2, 1931. Generous and outgoing even as a child, his teachers commented on his unselfish outlook. He was graduated from Boston English High School in 1949 and summa cum laude from Springfield College in 1954 with a B.S. in Youth Group and Recreational Leadership.

After U.S. Army service (1954-57), he earned an M.S.W. from the University of Connecticut (1959). Before completing his B.D. at Crane Theological School in 1967, Mr. Holden served youth ministries in the Massachusetts UU congregations of Stoneham and Medford. His work with youth extended more widely to professional social work and administration in several public youth agencies in California, Delaware, and Minnesota. He was ordained by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka, MN in 1980.

After a near-death experience while waiting for a heart transplant in 1985, Bill co-founded the Second Chance for Life Foundation, mentored many transplantees, and often drew upon these personal stories in his preaching.