Doris S. Cooney

Doris S. Cooney January 30, 1929 - February 1, 2022 Doris Stetler Cooney, 93, died Tuesday, February 1, at her home in Catonsville, Maryland following a brief illness. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of the late Earl Ross Stetler and Helen Mae Kaltenborn. She attended Peabody High School in Pittsburgh, where she competed on many athletic teams. She graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Gettysburg College in 1949. For much of her adult life she managed her itinerant family household as it moved to Lutherville, Hyattsville, Baltimore, Aberdeen, Bethesda, Bel Air, and Silver Spring. From time to time she worked outside the home, tutoring students unable to attend school and serving as an advertising account executive. Doris actively pursued many avocations into her 90s. She enjoyed gardening, painting (oil and water colors), sewing, designing floral arrangements, mastering jigsaw puzzles, and making crafts. She was a lover of jazz, sang in many choirs including the Harford Choral Society in the 1960s, and was a long-time subscriber to the Baltimore Symphony. In the 1970s she earned an associate’s degree in interior design at Harford Community College. She was an avid reader: shortly after they moved to Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville in 1988, she and her late husband founded the Philosophes’ Book Group, which continues to meet monthly. In 2009 the Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame gave her an award of distinction for volunteer service to the citizens of Maryland. She participated in numerous Road Scholars programs, and the highlight of many summers was a week attending concerts and lectures at the Chautauqua Institution in Jamestown, NY. She was a consummate host and loved entertaining at receptions and dinners in her home. She was her happiest whenever her extended family gathered together. Doris is survived by two sons and three daughters-in-law: Judith O’Connor Cooney, Columbia; David S. and Robin Stifler Cooney, New Market; and Donald R. and Dianne R. Lappe Cooney, Wallingford, PA. She is also survived by six grandchildren: Brian Cooney (Nini Clyburn), Stephanie Bright (Phil), Jennifer Wassan (Anmol), Shelby Wood (Doug), Meghan Ferster (Nathan), and Bryce Cooney (Anne Schulzinger); nine great-grandchildren: Brian Douglas, Brenden, Tayler, Camden, Arjun, Diya, Edith, Eloise, and Rowan; and numerous nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband of 52 years, the Rev. C. Douglas Cooney; her son, Douglas Alan Cooney; and her two sisters, Jeanne Stetler Cassell and Janet Stetler Covey. She was the last of her generation in her extended family. A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 19th at 1:00 pm at the chapel at Charlestown Retirement Community. Family will receive visitors at noon prior. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, Doris requested gifts in her memory be made to Gettysburg College, 300 N. Washington St. Box 423, Gettysburg PA 17325; Wesley Theological Seminary, 4500 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20016; or the Benevolent Care Fund of Charlestown Retirement Community, 719 Maiden Choice Lane, Baltimore MD 21228