Doris M. Greene

January 20, 2023, of Voorhees, NJ. Wife of Arthur E. Greene. Mother of Marcia (Ronald) Bergman and Karol (Daniel) Baker. Grandmother of Andrew (Kelly) Bergman and Matthew (Emily) Bergman. Great grandmother of Owen and Zoey.

Doris, like her brother, Morton, was born at home in Philadelphia because their mother did not like hospitals and feared there might be a baby mix-up. There was none.

Doris’ grandfather owned a farm near Elmer, NJ. The farm would play a huge part in their lives, especially Doris’. Every Sunday, their father, Charles, would round up the family and drive them from the congested city to the undeveloped beauty of NJ. During the summer, Anna, Mort, and Doris would spend their vacation there, with the children splashing in the cedar creek, feeding the animals, and sleeping out on the porch to try and catch the slight night breeze. Doris adored the idea of living with cows and horses, chickens, and vegetables. She loved touching the horses’ soft noses, and vividly remembered experiences like when her brother walked along the top fence post and fell headfirst into a pile of cowsh**! As the farm had no hot water at the time, Doris’ mom and grandmom had to boil buckets of water so they could “throw” Mort into the tub. Doris' unique and wonderful adventures with her brother and cousins on the farm, created deep friendships and lifelong bonds that helped to shape her great love of family.

Unfortunately, though, as a child, Doris developed rheumatic fever, which caused her to miss a year of school and interrupted her relationships with other kids, including her cousins. When Doris was finally able to return to school, she was sent to Bartram HS, which was not her district school nor the school that her brother attended, because Bartram had an elevator, which was needed to accommodate her recovery. While at Bartram, she was very active, and participated in orchestra and other activities. She even got to meet Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America, who asked if the piano was tuned, to which Doris excitedly responded in the affirmative.

More than anything else, Doris excelled academically at Bartram, which resulted in her being the valedictorian of the school, and she was awarded a 4-year academic full scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania.

Doris started out at Penn as a music major, but switched to elementary education, which would impact the rest of her life. She loved Penn, once again immersing herself into all the school had to offer. Life was different then, and men and women entered through different entrances, and classes were female-only. Doris really wanted to go into the science field, but was discouraged because it wasn’t seen as a “women’s field.” Even so, she loved her classes, her new friendships, the activities, the dances and Hillel, where she was a regular.

After graduation, Doris began her career teaching 7th and 8th grade social sciences at The Lee School. In addition to teaching, she led the orchestra. She always loved to tell the story of how when conducting a concert for 1st graders, she turned around to see all the little ones behind her standing up and waving their arms in imitation.

Doris met Art at an event held by an organization called the Jewish University Students. Doris was a regular attendee, Arthur was dragged there. He sat in front of Doris and he noticed the “cute little redhead” behind him. He overheard her speaking about an opera singer, who, by sheer coincidence, happened to be Art’s cousin. They talked about their love of opera and classical music, and Art asked her out. Doris went home that evening and told her mom and grandmom that she met the man she wanted to marry! They started dating, and 8 months later, on August 9, 1953, they were married.

Art and Doris moved to NE Philly, where Doris became very involved in many things, especially music, and they met people who would become lifelong friends.

Doris also got involved with the school board at Moore Schol, which Marcia and Karol attended. There, she got involved in, and received praise for, her work concerning the important issue of school busing.

They moved to Cherry Hill, where the kids grew up, and where Doris immersed herself in the community once again, teaching, helping, getting involved.

Of special memory was the time they spent in Harvey Cedars, where they found that their apartment was upstairs, directly above Doris’ college friends, Irv and Janet Yudkin and their three boys. They loved sitting on the beach, time spent with Dorist playing the piano while Janet and everyone else sang. They were wonderful memories.

Shortly after they were married, Art and Doris started going to the Philadelphia Orchestra, a labor of love that they continued for 68 years. Music remained at the center of their lives, participating in various offshoots of the orchestra.

Music was always a centerpiece, and Doris continued to play and sing, in her off-tune voice, whenever she could. Her family would marvel at her ability to hear a few notes and recognize the piece of classical music that was playing, note the composer, the musicians and the conductor who were playing it. Art constantly remarked that he would rather hear her play the piano than eat.

Doris was so proud of both Marcia and Karol, Marcia for working so hard to become a nurse, and Karol for exhibiting her great talent as an artist. And, they were much a part of their grandsons’ lives, spending endless hours rooting at Andrew’s and Matthew’s games.

In 2006, Doris decided that she wanted to become a Bat Mitzvah, which was not available to her when she was growing up. At 78, she completed the rigorous studies and became a Bat Mitzvah, much to the admiration and pride of her loving family.

They later moved to Lionsgate, where they stayed involved, and participated in many classes and other programs offered. They were also blessed to remain near old friends and new friends at Lionsgate.

Graveside services are Tuesday beginning 12:00 noon at Locustwood Memorial Park, Cherry Hill, NJ. Shiva will be observed at the late residence at Lions Gate following the burial until 8PM. Contributions may be made to Temple Univ. Neuromuscular Institute ALS City of Hope Clinic, the National Federation of the Blind, or Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice.