Doris J. Perry

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. - Doris J. Perry died October 17, 2008. She was 93. Born September 25, 1915, in Newark, New Jersey, she was the daughter of Joseph Hazley and Alicia Steele Hazley. She graduated from East Side High School and received an R.N. degree from Beth Israel Hospital. She was married for 50 years to Harry LeGrand Perry who died in 1987. She is survived by her daughters, Joan Cornish of Warren, N.J., and Margaret Simpson of Annandale, N.J.; son, Kenneth Perry of West Pawlet, Vt.; eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Her eldest child, Doris Corcoran of Laguna Niguel, Calif., died in 1992.

Doris was a forthright, direct and engaging woman who was fully involved with her family and community her entire life. As a younger woman before her marriage, she worked as head nurse of the obstetrical floor at Beth Israel Hospital. When her four children were old enough, she returned to work as a surgical scrub nurse for an orthopedic surgeon.

She lived in New Jersey for a good part of her life, first in Newark, then in Warren, but moved to Vermont when her husband retired. There they opened a successful B&B, making many new friends. She was an excellent seamstress, an avid gardener, wonderful cook, energetic square dancer and a skilled and natural card player. She was a longtime congregant of the Union Village United Methodist Church in Warren, N.J., active in the Women's Group and a member of the choir. After moving to Vermont, she became a member of the Home Dem group, and she and Harry enjoyed dancing with the Jack & Jills of Fair Haven, Vermont. She was very interested in maintaining friends of all ages and volunteered her time every week at the local school to read with the children.

Upon returning to New Jersey eight years ago, she continued this practice while a resident of Heath Village. She was instrumental in starting a library program for the children at the Friendship Center and read with them weekly. She was very active on the residents' council, serving in many capacities, and at the time of her death, she was council president. Above all, she maintained an alert and active interest in people and the events of her community and the world. She loved to talk but her real gift was in drawing someone out and listening to what they had to say. She will be sadly missed by her family and many friends.

A service celebrating Doris' life will be held November 2, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. in the auditorium at Heath Village, Schooley's Mountain Road in Hackettstown, N.J. Another service will be held November 8, 2008, at 11:00 a.m. at the Peniel Presbyterian Church, 4 Quaker St., in Granville, N.Y. She will be privately interred with her husband in the Mountain View Cemetery in West Pawlet, Vermont. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made either to the Heath Village Friendship Fund, c/o Heath Village, Schooley's Mountain Road, Hackettstown, NJ 07840; or to Heifer Project International, PO Box 8058, Little Rock, AR 72203-8058.

Online condolences to www.cochranfuneral.com.

View the guest book at rutlandherald.com/obits.