December 21, 1955 – June 24, 2019
Holly Sorenson Buck walked into Rich Wollensak's Waterbury, Vermont, dental office, told of her hygienist experience, noted they had 5-year-olds in school together and basically said, "I want to work here, and you need to hire me." That was 1995, and so blossomed a wonderful relationship, both professionally and as families, which sadly ended June 24, when Holly died of ocular cancer at her Waterbury Center home. She was 63.
Born in Forest City, Iowa, on December 21, 1955, she was the fourth of five children of Morris and Wilma (Houston) Sorenson. Moving to Maine, they reestablished farming in Newport and then Norridgewock.
As a smiling, little, blond youngster, she sold vegetables from a roadside wagon her father built and loved animals, especially horses. She learned to leap onto their backs and then race bareback through the fields! Her father said she became his best farmhand, taking charge of their 45,000 chickens.
She graduated from Skowhegan High School in 1974, the Maine School of Practical Nursing as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) in 1977 and in 1990 from the University of Vermont as a dental hygienist, this time a single mother of three. A week before graduation, Holly married Rob Buck, and that fall son Christian was born.
They settled into South Hero, then in 1994 moved to Waterbury Center, to their house on the hill she loved and honed. Flowers adorned, as did a garden that would feed throughout a winter. She raised sheep, pigs and chickens, and it was real sport watching Holly wrestle a lamb back behind the fence! She even leashed her sheep, taking them for walks.
Holly enjoyed outdoor sports and violin and volunteered for the Waterbury Ambulance and the Tooth Tutor program. She loved traveling the world but cherished returning to Maine's wild coast.
She said in her high school yearbook: "There are many philosophies of Life … has anyone thought of just Living it?" She did, her modesty not seeking the grandiose but instead a job well done and along the way gave so much to so many.
Holly was straightforward and told it like it was, shared sage advice, kindness, grace, humor and exuded confidence. Shy of the limelight, she just couldn't hide her endearing person. Her infectious laugh will be missed – you might not see Holly but relished that she was close by.
When asked where she'd go upon dying, she said, "I really don't know, but if you see a wild horse running through the fields, it's probably me."
Holly was predeceased by her parents and a niece. She is survived by her husband, Rob Buck; daughter, Heather Calhoun, Tucson, AZ; sons, Aaron Sorensen of Montpelier, Todd Healy of Fairfield, ME, and Christian Buck of Waterbury Center; sisters, Bonnie Sorenson, Manchester, MA, and Becky Vigneault, Winthrop, ME; brothers, Edmund Sorenson, Meriden, CT, and Dana Sorenson, Layton, UT; three grandchildren and two nephews.
In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to the Waterbury Ambulance Service, P.O. Box 95, Waterbury Center, VT 05677, or Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice, 600 Granger Road, Barre, VT 05641 (www.cvhhh.org), or Central Vermont Medical Center's Cancer Center Patient Fund, P.O. Box 547, Barre, VT 05641.
To send online condolences and read a more complete obituary, visit www.perkinsparker.com or the funeral home Facebook page.
A celebration of Holly's life takes place July 21, 2019, at the Blush Hill Country Club, Waterbury, Vermont, from 1 to 4 p.m. RSVP to
