Ridgewood‑Born Doctor Holly Zack Passes Away After Courageous Battle with Cancer

Holly Zack was born and raised in the quiet streets of Ridgewood, New Jersey, but her story was anything but ordinary. After a solid career crunching numbers as an accountant, she answered a different kind of calling in her forties—medicine.

She went back to school, earned her medical degree, and soon found herself tending to veterans at a bustling medical center. It wasn’t long before she shifted gears again, this time embracing the world of psychology and dedicating her days to helping those grappling with mental health challenges.

When she finally hung up her white coat, most would have settled into a well‑earned retirement. Not Holly. She signed up as a volunteer with her local Humane Society, and within twelve short months the board members elected her president. "Holly didn’t not work to live; she lived to work," her obituary reads, a line that captures her relentless spirit.

In April of this year, a routine check‑up turned grim—doctors delivered a terminal cancer diagnosis. The news was a punch to an already vibrant life, but Holly faced it with the same quiet resolve she’d shown throughout her career. She spent her final weeks in Maine, surrounded by friends who admired her tenacity.

On August 31, at the age of 68, Holly Zack breathed her last. A service is scheduled for the following Wednesday, allowing the community to celebrate a life that never stopped evolving.

Her legacy lives on in the countless veterans she cared for, the patients she counseled, and the animals she helped shelter. As Ridgewood residents remember her, they also recall a woman who proved that it’s never too late to chase a new passion.