Doris GREGORY

DORIS GREGORY Doris Gregory nee Filmer-Bennett, passed away peacefully on April 26, 2023 at Braddan Private Hospital in Vancouver. Doris had recently happily celebrated her 102nd birthday. She was predeceased by her deeply cherished son, Wayne; and her beloved brother, Gordon Filmer-Bennett and his wife, Arjean. Doris is survived by her dearly loved daughter, Linda (Stewart); son, Brian (Barbara); and daughter-in-law, Pamela; grandchildren, Sarah Nelles (Dennis), Vanessa, Michael, David, Rebecca Stanisz (Mike), Lisa Baldwin (Jeffrey), Julia (Phil), Madeline (Levi), Elizabeth (Aaron) and Hannah; great-grandchildren, Lucas and Rhys Nelles, Jacob, Ella, Charlotte and Benjamin Stanisz, and Jonathan and Carter Baldwin; and niece, Arllys Filmer-Bennett. Doris was born in Vancouver, April 9, 1921, to Harold and Lillian Filmer-Bennett. She spent a happy childhood and adolescence in the Lower Mainland, matriculating from Lord Byng High School in 1939. Doris studied English at UBC in the early 1940s. At the time, courses were segregated by gender with female lecturers for female students. Doris organized a group of women to 'crash' one of the men's lectures. After the women were asked to leave Doris documented the incident in the student newspaper in a story republished by the Canadian University Press. Women were eventually allowed to attend some 'men's' lectures. In 1942, Doris left university to join the Canadian Women's Army Corps and served in England. She wrote an autobiography about her adventures titled 'How I Won the War For the Allies: One Sassy Canadian Soldier's Story,' published by Ronsdale Press in 2014. This gave her tremendous personal satisfaction and much attention and led to many enjoyable talks to and meetings with students, seniors and veterans. After the war Doris returned to UBC for Bachelors and Masters degrees in psychology. She was awarded a fellowship to the University of Minnesota, taught at the University of New Hampshire, and later worked as a school psychologist in Oshawa, North York and York County in Ontario. She studied at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry to hone her clinical skills before opening a psychology practice. She happily moved back to Vancouver upon retirement in 1992, renewing old acquaintances and making new friends. Doris was interested, energetic, enthusiastic, and very sociable until the very end. Many thanks to Jewish Family Services for first-rate homecare services. Special thanks to the administration and staff of Braddan, as well as private caregivers from ABC Home Support, for their excellent care during her last two years. Particular thanks to her most dedicated caregiver, Evelyn Demegillo, who provided great comfort and superb care for Doris and our family during the more difficult times. A celebration of Doris' life will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to the Charity of Your Choice.