With sadness, we share the news of the death of the Rev. Dr. Dorothy Ann Austin, 82, on January 15, 2026, at her home in Cambridge, MA with her wife, Diana Eck, at her side.
Born in Fall River, MA, Dorothy grew up in Swansea, MA. She graduated from the University of Bridgeport (1965), the Presbyterian School of Christian Education and Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia (1967), and Andover Newton Theological School (1969). She received her doctorate from Harvard Divinity School in 1981. Decades later, she earned a Master of Social Work degree from Boston University (2008).
Dorothy and Diana met at an organ concert at Harvard’s Memorial Church in January 1976 and remained together for the next fifty years. They were married in that same church in 2004, when Massachusetts became the first state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Among those in attendance was Chief Justice Margaret Marshall of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, who authored the majority opinion in that landmark case.
In the 1990s, Dorothy served as Professor of Psychology and Religion at Drew Theological School in Madison, NJ. As a young woman, she had been told by her priest that “God doesn’t call women to the priesthood,” a statement that did not dissuade her from pursuing ordination. In 1971, she was ordained in an ecumenical service under the auspices of the Massachusetts Council of Churches at First Unitarian Church in Weston, MA. During her years teaching at Drew, she returned to The Episcopal Church and was ordained a deacon in November 1997 and a priest in May 1998 by Bishop John Shelby Spong.
For several years, Dorothy commuted between Drew and Cambridge, MA, where she created and directed several programs in religion, psychology, and psychiatry. She eventually returned full-time to Harvard, serving as Associate to the Rev. Peter Gomes at the Memorial Church and joining Diana as co-master of Lowell House – the first same-sex couple to serve as House Masters.
Dorothy’s memorial service will take place at Harvard’s Memorial Church at 11 AM on March 25, 2026.
Good and gracious God, the light of the faithful and shepherd of souls, you sent your servant Dorothy to be a priest in your Church and a teacher of future clergy, to feed your sheep with your word and to guide them by her example; give us the grace to keep the faith she taught and to follow in her footsteps. We entrust her into your unfailing mystery of Love and Hope through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
