Doris Lee Hedler

1918 - 2019

Doris Lee (Sing) Hedler 1918 ~ 2019

Doris Lee Hedler, age 100, passed away peacefully at Ebeid Hospice Center in Sylvania, OH, on Sunday January 20, 2019, with family members by her side. During her brief stay in hospice, she spent time with her children, members of her extended family, close friends and her church pastors. Memories and love were shared along with songs on guitar, voice, violin and harp.

Doris touched the lives of thousands in her community and beyond with a cheerful spirit and boundless energy. She loved learning, teaching, travel and music; her church, raising her family and helping others. Her entire life would be characterized by service to others through teaching, counseling and volunteering. Doris' constant curiosity and bright outlook were central to her giving nature and lifelong community involvement.

Daughter of Charles Yuke Sing and Jung See Sing, she was given the Chinese name Gum Fa (meaning Golden Lily) and was also given the English name Doris. She laid claim to being the first Chinese girl born in Toledo: Doris' father had documents proclaiming he was born in the US, enabling him to bring his wife into the country and raise a family despite the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. All seven of the Sing children graduated high school and college, and Doris would proudly remain a Toledo resident, extolling the educational opportunities Toledo offered her Chinese-American family.

From the age of four, Doris attended Ashland Avenue Baptist Church (now Ashland Church), where Doris' father learned English in the church's school for Toledo's Chinese residents. Doris became a member of the Ashland choir at age thirteen, prompting a lifelong love of singing, music and the arts. She remained an active member of Ashland's choir through her hundredth year, crediting her longevity in great part to rehearsing and singing every week. So many of Doris' lifelong friendships began at Ashland, and she regarded the church members as extended family.

Doris grew up in downtown Toledo, helping to raise her six siblings while attending public school, and helping her mother run the family laundry on Monroe Street. She was supported in great part by the librarians at the Toledo Library who nurtured Doris' love of reading, the teachers at Lincoln and Robinson schools, the staff at Tiedtke's, Lamsons and the Lion stores (who helped her shop for the family), and the members of Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, her lifelong religious home.

Having lost all but the bare essentials in the economic collapse of '29, the family moved into an industrial building on Dorr Street and Doris' father moved to New York. Doris would help with the laundry operation, shop for the family, and get her siblings to school, the library, art classes at the museum, and Camp Storer. Doris credited her mother's example of positive outlook and hard work for the family's ability to thrive, despite the hardships of depression-era scarcity.

Doris attended Scott High School, where she met her future husband Robert (Bob) Hedler. They graduated from Scott with honors in 1936 and continued to Toledo University, where Doris graduated in 1940 with a degree in education and a minor in mathematics. She somehow found time to also participate in the University Chorus, educational academic societies including Peppers, Mortarboard, Delta X, Pi Mu Epsilon, Pi Lambda Theta and Phi Delta Kappa. Doris would consider teaching her "life's calling".

After graduation, Doris taught special-needs children in Michigan and Florida until WW2 began, then returned to Toledo to marry Bob and raise a family. After the war, Doris and Bob raised their children in Toledo, encouraging all seven to pursue art, science and education.

Doris returned to the University of Toledo to complete her Masters in Education at age 50. She helped launch Head-Start in Ohio, developed special-education programs at the Penta Skill Center, helped found the UT Eberly Women's Center, and taught GED classes to women at the Lucas County Jail. Her favorite occupation was Academic Advisor at the University College of UT, where she helped launch the university's first program in Institutional Health Care Management.

After retiring from the university, Doris helped found FOCUS, the interfaith organization supporting Toledo's homeless. Doris also served as an executive committee member of the Toledo chapter of Pi Lambda Theta, an honor society and professional association for educators. Doris' great joy was to hear from the countless former students who were encouraged and inspired by her enthusiasm for education and community involvement.

Doris loved travel her entire life. She travelled with Bob to his Navy training locations in Chicago, Princeton, MIT and Washington, DC. As "empty-nesters", Doris and Bob would visit their grown children in New York and New England, babysit their three grandchildren in Michigan, and travel with family and friends to Green Lake, WI, Las Vegas, Alaska, China, England, Germany, Italy and Australia.

Ever the teacher, Doris chose to donate her remains to the UTMC Anatomical Donation Program, so that in her passing, she could continue educating future physicians and medical professionals. Gifts honoring Doris can be directed to institutions she supported: The Jung See Sing Memorial Endowed Fund for Asian-American Studies at UT (established in honor of Doris' mother), The Catherine S. Eberly Center for Women, Leading Families Home (formerly FOCUS), The National Multiple Sclerosis Society - NW Ohio Chapter, The American Cancer Society, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Amnesty International, The Southern Poverty Law Center, The American Civil Liberties Union and The Committee to Protect Journalists.

Doris is preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Robert C. Hedler; son, Robert L. Hedler; daughters, Carol E. Hedler and Rebecca R. Hedler. She is survived by her brother, Edward Y. (Helen) Sing; sister, Ruth L. Sing; son, Charles E. (Maria) Hedler; daughter, Susan F. Hedler; son, Alan R. (Olga) Hedler; son, Martin P. (Suzanne Kirk) Hedler; grandchildren, Calvin A. (Jules) Hedler, Nikolai R. Hedler, Karl S. Hedler.

A memorial service for Doris will be held at Ashland Church, 2350 Starr Ave, Oregon, OH, Saturday, March 2, 2019, at 2 pm. Family visitation will be at Ashland Church on Friday, March 1, 5:30 - 8:30 pm and Saturday at noon preceding the memorial service. Information on additional celebrations of Doris' life can be found at DorisHedler.com, where this commemoration of her life and legacy is extended with contributions by her family, friends, and members of her diverse communities.