BALTIMORE, MD.—Doris Dunaway Patterson of Baltimore passed away peacefully at age 106 on December 23, 2016.
Born on July 25, 1910, in Washington, D.C., she was the daughter of Carroll and Mary Moore Dunaway, both natives of Lancaster County. Raised and educated in Baltimore, Doris Patterson worked as a legal secretary, and for many years until her retirement in 1972, she was employed by the Social Security Administration.
At the time of her 100th birthday, she was feted with a grand party held at the Reisterstown, Md., home of her nephew Alan Henneman and his wife, Suzie, with many relatives, friends and former coworkers joining in the celebration.
Some of her earliest memories were of traveling by steamboat with her parents and younger siblings from Baltimore to Merry Point to visit their Lancaster County relatives. At the time of her 102nd birthday, she was interviewed and videotaped by the Steamboat Era Museum in conjunction with the museum’s Oral History Project. In that interview she reminisced with stories and anecdotes about those steamboat journeys.
All her life she had a warm spot in her heart for the Northern Neck especially Lancaster County where she considered her roots were. She loved the land and waters and history of Lancaster County and the people.
As an adult, she and her husband continued the tradition begun by her parents of spending time every summer in Lancaster County. In recent years her birthday coincided with her family’s annual vacation on the banks of Carters Creek and the Rappahannock.
In the August 6, 2015, edition of the Rappahannock Record, she and her 105th birthday celebration were featured and pictured in an article entitled “Celebrating with a Centenarian.” In July 2016, she traveled again from Baltimore to the Northern Neck with her family and enjoyed her 106th birthday with a party held overlooking the Eastern Branch of the Corrotoman. She is pictured here during her July 2016 vacation in Lancaster County.
She was predeceased by her parents; by her husband of 56 years, Leonard Patterson; and by her siblings, Virginia Dunaway Henneman, Mariam Dunaway Fino and George Carroll Dunaway.
Known in her family as MomMom, she is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Larry and Lea Patterson of White Hall, Md., and by her three grandchildren and their spouses, Laura and Josh Abzug of Monkton, Md., Nancy and Eric Daxon of Bel Air, Md., and Larry Jr. and Gina Patterson of Germantown, Md.
She also is survived by seven great-grandchildren, Noah, Benjamin and Zachary Abzug; Leanne, Eric Jr. and William Daxon; and Andrew Patterson. Also surviving are many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Among the cousins are her Lancaster County kin, Peggy Davis and Leah Pittman of Kilmarnock and their families, Helen Jean and Aubrey Lindsey of Kilmarnock and Chester and their family, and Ann Lee and Floyd Criswell of Merry Point.
A Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Doris Dunaway Patterson was held on December 29, 2016, at the Ruck Funeral Home in Towson, Md., with The Rev. James McSavaney and Pastor Jason McNeese officiating. Interment followed in Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Lutherville-Timonium, Md.
