Doris Lee Hedler

1918 - 2019

(News story) Doris Lee Hedler, a Toledo mother of seven who was a longtime educator and a community volunteer, died Jan. 20 at ProMedica Ebeid Hospice Residence, Sylvania. She was 100.

She died after a brief stay in a hospital, her son, Martin Hedler, said.

Ms. Hedler, who held a bachelor's and a master's degrees in education, retired in the mid-1980s as an academic adviser at the the University of Toledo's University College after many years of service.

She was previously a special-education teacher at at the Penta Skills Center, then a part of Penta Vocational High School, teaching a variety of subjects from math to English.

In the 1970s, she also taught GED classes to women at the Lucas County jail.

Ms. Hedler was instrumental in the launch of the area Head Start Program, developed special-education programs at Penta, and helped found the UT Eberly Women's Center.

In retirement, Ms. Hedler devoted a lot of time and effort to volunteering.

She had helped found what now is Leading Families Home, which serves individuals and families experiencing homelessness, and served on the executive committee of the Toledo chapter of Pi Lambda Theta.

Ms. Hedler was born Sept. 18,1918 in Toledo to Charles Yuke Sing and Jung See Sing, who were originally from China.

She grew up in downtown Toledo, where she went to school, while helping her mother run the family laundry on Monroe Street and take care of her six younger siblings, including during the Great Depression.

"Even though her family lost everything in the Depression, she maintained a positive outlook and a genuine interest in helping others," her son said.

"She helped her mother raise her siblings and her nurturing efforts evolved into a lifetime of educating others and service to others," he said, adding that she laid a claim to belong to Toledo's first family of Chinese immigrants.

In 1936, Ms. Hedler graduated with honors from Scott High School and then went to Toledo University, graduating in 1940 with a bachelor's degree in education, with a minor in mathematics.

After graduation, she taught special-needs children at different times in Michigan and Florida.

In the 1940s, she also volunteered for the Toledo chapter of the former Church Committee for China Relief, a group that raised funds to relieve the suffering among the thousands made destitute by the Second Sino-Japanese War.

In 1942, Ms. Hedler married her high-school sweetheart Bob Hedler. Together, they raised seven children. He died in 2006.

When her children were grown up, she returned to UT, graduating in 1979 with a master's degree in education.

In her free time, Ms. Hedler enjoyed traveling with her husband stateside and overseas.

Ms. Hedler was a lifetime member of Ashland Church, where she sang in the choir from age 13 until shortly before her death.

Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by her son, Robert Hedler and daughters, Carol Hedler and Rebecca Hedler.

Surviving are her daughter, Susan Hedler; sons, Charles, Alan, and Martin Hedler; brother, Edward Sing; sister, Ruth Sing; and three grandchildren.

Ms. Hedler donated her remains to the University of Toledo Medical College Anatomical Donation Program.

Visitation will be from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday at Ashland Church, 2350 Starr Ave, Oregon, where it will resume at noon Saturday.

A memorial service will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday at the church.

The family suggests tributes to the Jung See Sing Memorial Endowed Fund for Asian-American Studies at UT, the Catherine S. Eberly Center for Women, Leading Families Home, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Northwest Ohio Chapter, the American Cancer Society, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

This is a news story by Mike Sigov. Contact him at sigov@theblade.com or 419-724-6089.