Dolan, Barbara H.

1926-2010 

Barbara H. Dolan passed away peacefully on Saturday, 
February 20, 2010, with her family by her side, at Saint 
Mary's Regional Medical Center, Reno, NV. She was 83. 
Barbara had recently spent a happy Valentine's Day with 
her children and grandchildren while recovering from 
pneumonia that struck her on New Year's Eve. She and her 
family were making plans for her to return to her beloved 
house of 46 years in Reno. She is now at home forever. 

She was born Barbara Littell Sands on July 8, 1926, to 
Helen King Clarke and Roger Thorne Sands in Yonkers, 
New York. After the death of her father when she was a 
baby, she was later adopted by John T. Henderson. Barbara 
is descended from the old Dutch of Manhattan, New York, 
and was the first of her direct family in over 300 years to 
move west, arriving in Reno, NV, with her two young 
daughters during Reno's famous divorce era. 

Prior to moving to Reno, Barbara grew up in Chappaqua, 
New York, and graduated with honors from Horace Gree- 
ley High School. She later graduated also with honors 
from Stephens Womens' College in Columbia, MO, with a 
degree in English. Upon graduation she returned to New 
York City and went to work for Louis Cowan, Inc. as public 
relations assistant for the radio show "Murder At Midnight". 
At George Kamen, Inc., she was a copywriter and managed 
press for the national radio show "Queen For A Day". Later, 
she was promoted to publicity and promotions director for 
Elgin American/Julius Klein Public Relations, rounding out 
her New York career at Dawnelle Gloves where she was 
Fashion Coordinator and Publicity Director. Her natural 
beau- ty also led her to work briefly as a model for print. 
In 1946, she married ABC Radio executive Richard W. 
Brahm, and re- sided in Manhattan, New York, and later in 
Greenwich, CT. 

Upon moving to Reno, Barbara went to work for "KDOT" 
and wore many hats for the small town, Sinatra-era radio 
station. She was the voice and chief copywriter for 
commercial spots, created sales promotions, and managed 
the front desk. In those days, Reno was a glamorous stop 
for international divorcees, where an odd set of "taboos" - 
gambling, and divorce - came together with world-class 
enter- tainment, fine dining, fashionable guest ranches, 
and gritty cowboys, all in this small western in the 
foothills of the Sierras. The "Biggest Little City" was quite 
a change from the "big city" Barbara had grown up in, and 
was to become home for the rest of her life. 

In 1960, Barbara married attorney Murray V. Dolan of 
Sparks, Nevada. She served as president of the Washoe 
County Bar Association Ladies' Auxiliary, raising money 
for many important local causes, and most notably, the 
local hospital charities. She also volunteered at Saint 
Mary's Hospital as a "pink lady". 

In more recent years, Barbara owned "Now and Then 
Antiques" located at the former Antique Collective on Mill 
Street. She also edited and wrote copy for over two years 
for her daughter's nationally-syndicated radio show "Good 
Health". Her last project was a book she authored about 
the former Whitney Ranch and Reno's divorce era, Lately 
of Reno, to be published posthumously. 

Barbara was a true lady, in the old-fashioned sense of the 
word: always gracious, polite, poised, and positive, in all 
circumstances. She was raised with impeccable manners 
and was always considerate of others. Beyond this, she 
was a woman of beautiful presence: always optimistic, 
encouraging, forgiving, trusting, kind, generous, and most 
of all, loving. Her children always came first, and after that, 
she loved her dogs, her garden and her home, where she 
lived for more than half her life and almost half a century. 
She was honored there during a private ceremony held 
among her sleeping rose bushes on the first day of Spring 
of this year. 

In lieu of flowers, Barbara would wish for donations to be 
made to the Nevada Humane Society in honor of her 
beloved Charlie and Teddy. 

Barbara is survived by her children, Holly D. Gregg and 
Heather Sands Carter both of Reno; Stacey Castle and 
Shannon Dolan of the Sacramento area, and Kelley Dolan 
of Cotati, CA; her sons-in-law, Michael S. Gregg, Esq., and 
Jan O. Carter, M.D., and her grandchildren, Misha Gregg, 
Zach Gregg and Jessica Sands Carter all of Reno. She is 
also survived by several nieces and nephews including 
Tom Henderson. Jr. She was preceded in death by her two 
younger brothers, Thomas Henderson and John 
Henderson, Jr. 

Published in Reno Gazette-Journal on March 21, 2010