DOLAN John Barr, 102, resident of North Hill, Needham, MA., died Feb. 15, 2014. He was the husband of the late Cornelia Wing Dolan.
Born in Lexington, MA., and raised in Boston, MA., he was the son of the honorable Justice Arthur W. Dolan and Christine Barr Dolan of Boston, Massachusetts. He was educated in the Boston Public Schools, graduated from Boston College High School (Class of 1929), graduated from Harvard College (Class of 1933), and Harvard Law School (Class of 1936).
After graduation from Harvard Law School, in 1936 he joined the law firm of Sherburne, Powers, and Needham as an Associate and was made partner in that firm in 1945.
In 1938 he married Cornelia Wing, daughter of Charles S. Wing and Florence Foster Wing of Newton Center, MA., Their marriage lasted their entire lifetime together for over 72 years. After living in Brookline, MA., for one year, the couple moved to Needham, MA.,
In Needham he was appointed to the Needham, MA., War Rationing Board and served as Chairman of the board until the end of the war. He also served as a member of the Town of Needham Finance Committee and as a member and Chairman of the Needham School Committee.
In 1952, he and his family moved to Wellesley MA., where he served on the Wellesley, MA., Advisory Board. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Wellesley Country Club and as its President.
He joined the Brae Burn Country Club in 1961, but continued his membership in the Wellesley Country Club for a period of over 10 years, during which period he was active in obtaining additional land and changing the Wellesley Country Club from a 9-hole to an 18-hole golf course.
He was a former member of the Commonwealth Country Club, the Needham Golf Club, Lake Sunapee Country Club (New Hampshire) and the Turtle Creek Golf Club in Tequesta, FL. In addition he was a trustee of the Massachusetts Golf Association.
Former member of the New England Law Institute and the Boston Estate Planning Forum. In 1970 he was elected as a member of the American College of Probate Council. He was later described in his law firms 75th Resume as “Massachusetts most pre-eminent trust lawyer”.
Husband of the late Cornelia Wing Dolan. Father of John Barr Dolan Jr. and daughter-in-law Lynn Dolan of Marlboro, MA; his daughter Cornelia Dolan Prestel of Salzburg, Austria. He is also survived by four grandchildren: John Prestel and wife Danka; Ludwig Prestel; Peggy Dolan Sheldon and husband Edward; Jennifer Dolan Bredford and husband Jason; and six great-grandchildren.
Funeral Mass in St. Paul Church, 502 Washington St., Wellesley, Wednesday at 10am. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Private interment Woodlawn Cemetery, Wellesley. Expressions of sympathy may be made in John’s memory to St. Paul Church, 502 Washington St. Wellesley, MA 02482.