Obituary of Eileen Doran

After a courageous year and one-half battle with an aggressive cancer, capped off with a debilitating stroke in mid-December, Eileen died in the arms of her high school sweetheart (1955) and loving husband of fifty-eight plus years, Harold. She is survived by him and their two sons Jamie, his wife Sharon, and their son Aidan and his fiancée Triana, and Harold, his wife Jennifer, and their children Astraia and Seamus, and by her sister Kathleen Hinton of La Grange, Illinois and her husband Ken. Her third son Patrick predeceased her, dying of cancer twenty years ago. Eileen was many things besides a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother. Everything she did she did with passion. Her highest priority was her Catholic faith in Jesus. In her later life, particularly after she had retired from nursing, when conditions allowed, she was a daily attendee at Mass and Holy Communion. Her top earthly priority was her family. As far as she was concerned one could never do too much for one’s family. As one would expect, the primary beneficiary of this was Harold – which he concedes. But all of the family members from parents down through children and grandchildren – and the occasional family extension – could provide lists of seemingly unending acts of love and kindness they received from her. She was a dedicated nurse, who spent 45 years caring for her patients. And a good one at that. For a year towards the end of her career, her picture hung in the main lobby of the Toronto Hospital for having been recognized as the top nurse in that world-class institution. She was an avid, versatile runner. In her age category, running at 10 kilometers, she set and may still hold the Canadian record. In World Association of Veteran Athletes competition, running at 25 kilometers, she was, for two years, the world champion. At thirty kilometers, running the Hamilton Ontario Around the Bay race, which she ran six years in a row, she came first every time. And she ran thirteen marathons, including five times in Boston, coming as high as second in her category in that prestigious competition. She was also an avid gardener, a beautiful knitter, a talented bridge player, a wonderful baker and so many other things. Eileen was a person who always liked to keep herself busy. After retiring she volunteered at Huntsville Hospital and Toronto Good Shepherd Ministries. Even after her cancer diagnosis she still did her daily walks and, as a member of the Blessed Sacrament Parish knitting club, knitted clothing for babies in need in Toronto and Northern Ontario. Legacy of Love A wife, a mother, a grandma too, This is the legacy we have from you. You taught us love and how to fight, You gave us strength; you gave us might. A stronger person would be hard to find, And in your heart, you were always kind. You fought for us all in one way or another, Not just as a wife not just as a mother. For all of us you gave your best, Now time has come for you to rest. So go in peace, you’ve earned your sleep, Your love in our hearts, we’ll eternally keep. The family would Like to thank the doctors at Sunnybrook hospital, especially Dr. Rachel Kupetts and Dr. Zachary Felchenfeld, and a special thank you to Dr. Russell Goldman from the Temmy Latner palliative team, the LHIN team, the Home Instead team, and the many others who were part of her care over the past year and a half. If so inclined, donations in Eileen’s memory might be made to Sunnybrook Hospital Foundation, or the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care.