BY BRUCE STRINGER Special to the VOICE
Doris Stringer passed away gracefully March 10 in the company of her family after 99 years of a productive life. Until dementia stole the last few years of meaning, Doris lived according to a life plan which meant educating and giving to society.
In her later years there were several tumbles as she was still hurrying to accomplish something as the urge to be “doing” never left her.
Doris was born in the mining town of Springhill, N.S. where her father was an engineer. His restless nature took the family to Philadelphia, Copper Cliff, Ont., and then Welland.
Doris went to Guelph University for two years and then teacher’s college for a year. The family had moved to Hamilton and this is where she started a long teaching career.
Teaching must entail a genetic component as she was the third generation of teachers in her family to be followed by a son and two granddaughters. Doris had met Gar Stringer in Welland and they were married in 1944. Several more years of teaching ended when the first of two sons was born in 1946.
The next adventure began when they bought a lot in Pelham Corners from Mrs. McCombs. This lot was a scrubby piece of woods and swamp which had been part of the old McCombs nursery land. The price was right. They erected a prefab house, which Gar mostly finished himself over the next 10 years. That first winter they roughed out the interior enough so that they could move in on Valentine’s Day, 1952. Doris had a very academic background and was pleased when Gar taught her how to staple the insulation into the wall.
In 1953, she decided to return to teaching and accepted a job at Fenwick’s E.W. Farr School. They could only afford one car so the school board let her ride the high school bus to Fenwick. Marion Shapland and Doris taught Grades 1 and 2 respectively at the tiny Baxter Lane School, which was the old original school. Many Fenwick area children thank these two ladies for the great educational foundation they provided. Doris taught there from 1953 to 1968.
She prepared lessons and corrected work late into the evening every day of her working career. It seems a good lesson can always be better. Good arithmetic skills were her primary goal, but this did not preclude bringing literature and her love of nature into the classroom.
After transferring to the Fonthill’s A.K. Wigg near the end of her career, she loved taking the class on nature walks to the woods along Pancake Lane.
Love of nature and especially of birds and trees led her to write a newspaper bird column for many years. She was secretly proud to be known as the Bird Lady. Gar and Doris spent many days, binoculars in hand, at some marsh or hawk fly-by site along the escarpment. Gar loved the drives and Doris the birds.
At Pelham Corners, the gardens expanded over the years until motorists began stopping to snap pics. Her pride was the 100-foot rock garden which stretched along the side of the house. Each one of those limestone rocks had been brought from the Morgan’s Point cottage in the trunk of one of Gar’s always-older cars.
In later years, education and service led Doris to the genealogy of the Stringer/Burns families. She tirelessly researched her own family and assisted others with the intricacies of their searches. As the workload increased, Doris hired a graduate history student (now a PhD) to assist. I often wondered if she needed the help or wanted to assist the assistant. Many genealogical meetings at several societies were her joy and Gar’s cross to bear. Gar and Doris mapped the Ridgeville cemetery to assist other searchers.
Perhaps finding herself to be not busy enough she picked up the cause of “waste to energy.” Her brother-in-law, a retired engineer, was the Ontario spokesman for a group promoting the burning of waste to produce thermal power. Doris couldn’t resist a new challenge in her mid-80s.
Doris moved to Saint John NB to be closer to her son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who had all migrated back to their family’s maritime roots. She lived there for the last 12 years.
Even then the genealogy bug flourished as she cut obits from the paper, certain that this Patriquin or that McLeod must be a long-lost relative from Nova Scotia. Doris’ lively personality was noticed here too as her senior’s residence featured her in the video for their TV ad.
I’m sure that Doris would like to be remembered as a caring teacher who did her best to prepare those around her for a productive life.
Doris will be buried beside Gar in the Pelham Quaker cemetery following the 10:30 service, on June 24th. ◆
