Lenore P. Millhollen, Center City preservationist, civic advocate, and retired advertising executive, has died at 97
She was passionate about historic buildings and architecture, and worked tirelessly to ensure that the city was developed in ways that benefitted its residents.
Lenore P. Millhollen, 97, of Philadelphia, longtime Center City preservationist, civic advocate, and retired vice president for J.M. Korn & Son advertising agency, died Sunday, May 21, of failure to thrive at her home at Cathedral Village retirement community.
Tireless as a custodian of Philadelphia’s cityscape during her more than 60 years as a resident on Waverly Street near 20th and Lombard Streets, Mrs. Millhollen was cofounder of the Preservation Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, longtime adviser to the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, former president of the Center City Residents’ Association, and active with the Fitler Square Neighborhood Association.
She served on several local zoning boards and rallied support for numerous efforts to preserve historic structures and improve the environment of Center City neighborhoods from Broad Street to the Schuylkill. She was involved with the renovation of the Wanamaker Building near City Hall, William Hamilton Mansion at the Woodlands in West Philadelphia, John B. Kelly Jr. Memorial Boathouse on Boathouse Row, and many other buildings.
She engaged often with the Philadelphia Historical Commission and Washington-based National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 1999, she earned an achievement award from the Preservation Alliance.
“She loved buildings and had a love affair with architecture,” said her husband, Bill Millhollen. Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance, called Mrs. Millhollen “a dogged advocate” and “determined civic leader committed to making Philadelphia a better place.”
“She was a very valuable adviser, very engaged,” Steinke said. “She asked good questions and gave us lots of ideas and feedback.”
A graduate of the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, now the University of the Arts, Mrs. Millhollen worked as art director and vice president at J.M. Korn & Son for nearly 20 years in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. She had an uncanny ability to discern subtle shades of color, her husband said, and consulted with The Inquirer and Daily News when they began publishing color photographs in the 1990s.
She retired early, her husband said, because she wanted to spend more time on her community activism. “She was very calm and easygoing most of the time, but not at neighborhood meetings,” her husband said. “She was very persuasive. People said, ‘Do not cross Lenore.’”
Born May 27, 1925, in Philadelphia, Lenore Priest graduated from Roxborough High School and lived at first in Rosemont. She met Millhollen when they worked in the same building for different ad agencies on Walnut Street, and they married in 1959, and bought a house on Waverly Street for $16,500.
She was interested in politics and worked on projects with former City Council member Thacher Longstreth for a time. But her real interest was grassroots preservation. “She wanted to make sure development was done right,” her husband said.
She was a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the Victorian Society in America, and the English-speaking Union of Philadelphia. Her photograph appeared half a dozen times in the society pages of The Inquirer, and David Iams, the newspaper’s former society writer, wrote about a “flowery straw hat” she wore to an English-speaking Union garden party in 1990.
“It’s my official E-SU hat,” she told Iams. “Where else can you wear something like this except here?”
Mrs. Millhollen collected art and enjoyed music and musical theater. She and her husband considered moving to New York in the 1960s when they both worked in advertising, but Mrs. Millhollen would not leave Philadelphia.
He was a copywriter, and she was an art director when they met. They worked across the hall from each other, and they timed their bathroom breaks to meet as often as possible.
“We were bad,” her husband said. “We were the perfect couple.”
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Millhollen is survived by other relatives. A sister died earlier.
A memorial service is to be held Wednesday, June 21, at 7 p.m. at Laurel Hill Funeral Home, 225 Belmont Ave., Bala Cynwyd, Pa., 19004.
Donations in her name may be made to the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, 1608 Walnut St., Suite 1702, Philadelphia, Pa. 19103.