Louise Doyle (1912 – 2007) was world traveler, philanthropist, environmentalist, and practicing Buddhist. Her family owned the plastic factory in town and her father was the mayor of Leominster in the mid-1920s.
A graduate of Smith College, Louise traveled the world (220 countries!) collecting international antiques from places such as Africa, Austria, Yemen, Egypt, Greece, and Crete, among others. Louise was a founding donor and ongoing supporter of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. She always called Leominster home and, while she supported national organizations, she also supported those closer to home like the Leominster American Little League, Tower Hill Botanical Garden, and the National Education for Assistant Dog Services (Princeton, MA).
She was not only a dog lover (and had a building constructed to be a kennel), but she was a supporter of wildlife and open space long before it was fashionable. She understood the importance and need of community space and bringing a community together.
Louise’s only request was the we “do something important” with her gift. In 2004, the Doyle Center was built as a 14,000, gold-rated LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building. This is part of the Doyle Community Park, 157 acres of open space in the midst of Leominster and Fitchburg.