Harriet Dolin

Harriet Dolin, a long-time resident of Waynesboro and the first woman elected to its city council, died at age 91 at the Brandon Wilde senior living community in the Augusta area on January 6. Harriet was born in Newport News, Virginia in 1932, the oldest daughter of Louis and Lillian Aronow. She graduated from Newport News High School and attended the Women's College of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she studied journalism. In 1952, she married Martin Dolin, whom she met on a Thanksgiving visit to Waynesboro with a close college friend, the sister of her future husband. She and Martin were married for 67 years until his death in 2019. Martin and Harriet played a vital role in the commercial and civic life of Waynesboro for half a century. Together, they ran the family business, Dolin's Department Store, with Harriet playing a key role as the principal buyer. She had worked as a reporter for The True Citizen after moving to Waynesboro and was involved in a wide array of volunteer activities, including serving on the advisory board formed in connection with the founding of Burke County's Head Start Program in 1970. Harriet was elected to Waynesboro City Council in 1977. After the Dolins retired to Augusta in 2003, Harriet continued to be active in a variety of civic and cultural pursuits. For many years, she was a docent at the Morris Museum of Art. She had a wide circle of friends, excelled at storytelling and entertaining, and loved travel, music, theatre, literature, and art. She is survived by her daughter Lisa, of New York City, son Mitchell, of Washington, D.C., grandchildren, Eli Dolin Mlyn, of Montreal, Claire Dolin, of Washington, D.C., Seth Dolin, of Boulder, Colorado, brother-in-law and sister-in-law Arnold and Billie Dolin, of New York City, sister-in-law Harriet Dolin Stuart, of Beverly Hills, California, and eight nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her sister Marilyn Greenspan. Donations in her memory may be made to the Morris Museum of Art, 1 Tenth Street, Augusta, GA 30901. The family is planning a memorial event for this spring.