Doris L. Clemens

Doris was born on August 7, 1924 in East Boston, Massachusetts to Beatrice B. King and Edward P. Lang. Doris attended school in East Boston and, in 1945, graduated with a B.S. in Business from Simmons College in Boston.  Growing up, she spent summers with her grandmother on Naushon Island, near Martha’s Vineyard, resulting in a lifelong fondness for the ocean and a good lobster.  After college graduation, she held a variety of positions in Boston, but was proudest of working as a legal secretary for Elliot Richardson, who later became a cabinet member under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.  Doris met her future husband and fellow Bostonian, the late Fred B. Clemens, after accepting a position at Hercules Powder Company in Wilmington, Delaware. Fred and Doris married in 1952 and raised four children through multiple job transfers to New Jersey, Utah, Maryland and Alabama.  Doris started teaching as a substitute and then taught 5^th grade from 1964-65 at St. Paul School in Princeton, New Jersey where her four children were enrolled. While living in Huntsville, Alabama, Doris applied to the National Teacher Corps and received her M.Ed. and teacher licensure in 1972. She looked forward to teaching, but after Fred’s job required one more transfer back to the Hercules home office in Wilmington, Doris took a customer service position at DuPont’s PPD until her retirement in 1985.

As a resident of Hockessin, Delaware for over 45 years, Doris enjoyed volunteering at Hagley Museum and in local nursing homes. Her passion for traveling took her all over the world – Alaska, Panama Canal, Australia & New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Florida, Las Vegas, Atlantic City and many trips to Europe. She also enjoyed bowling, bridge, knitting, crocheting and needlework.

Doris is survived by three daughters, Claire, Maura, and Julie, a son Frederick, seven grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, her brother, Edward P. Lang of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and nieces, Kathy Hunter and Karen Clark, and nephews Stephen Lang and Kevin Doyle.  She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 62 years, and her granddaughter Elizabeth.

Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, November 19, 2018 at St. Mary of the Assumption Church, 7200 Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, DE 19707 where friends and family may visit from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Interment will follow Mass at St. Patrick’s Cemetery, 1516 Ashland-Clinton School Road, Hockessin. Please join the family and friends for a reception at St. Mary’s following the interment. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity in her memory.

The family would like to express their sincere appreciation for the care provided by the Cokesbury Village staff.