Deceased August 25, 2023

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In Memory

Douglas Williams of Peterborough, N.H., died peacefully on Aug. 25, 2023, while visiting friends in Maine. He was born on Sept. 14, 1934, and grew up in Amherst. He attended Phillips Academy and then graduated from Amherst College, where his father was a professor and his mother worked with international students. He was class president for two years and elected to Sphinx in his senior year. He belonged to Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, where he was vice president. 

He then attended Virginia Theological Seminary, and after graduation he worked in a college ministry in Florida. Later, in Colorado, he founded an organization to address important issues, and this received significant community support.

His desire to study Jungian psychology took him to Zurich for five years, where he earned his diploma. He offered Jungian analysis to individual clients for the rest of his life. In the 1990s, he developed Heaven’s Mind, near Latacarta, as a place to meet and discuss ideas. These conversations gave energy to changes that were beginning in Peterborough. Doug was part of the group that established the town’s first celebrations to honor Martin Luther King Jr. He also gave a lot of time and support to the early efforts to conserve the land around Cunningham Pond.

Doug leaves behind good friends, many of whom worked with him, sharing books and ideas through various groups that met in his home. He also leaves wife Joy Jacobs, daughter Erin Williams and son Ben Williams. 

Hank Pearsall ’56