Mary Virginia Doran

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held for Mary Virginia Doran at 11:00 a.m. Friday, July 11, 2025 at the Church of St. Edward the Confessor, 785 Newark Granville Road, Granville, with Father Timothy Hayes as celebrant. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the Mass, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the church.

Mary will be buried next to her husband, William, with graveside services being held on Saturday, July 12, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. at St. Joseph Cemetery in Conneaut, Ohio.

Mary Virginia (Meyer) Doran left this world at the age of 95, on the 5th of July, 2025. Amazingly, this was soon after the birth of her 12th great grandchild, Finn.

She has joined her beloved husband, Dr. William F. Doran, who died in 2021 during his 100th year of life, and several of her family who left this world much too soon - her children Jean and Bill, son-in-law Tony, and grandchildren Daniel and Emily. She desired and prayed for a peaceful and dignified death, which God granted. At the moment of her death, she was at home and surrounded by loved ones.

She was an active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and, subsequently, Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Conneaut, Ohio. In 2018, Mary and Bill moved to Granville, Ohio and became members of St. Edward the Confessor Parish.

Mary is survived by her children Robert (Barbara) of Granville, Ohio; Regis of Lorain, Ohio; Paul (Roxanna) of Brookline, New Hampshire; David (Karen) of Valier, Montana; Catherine (Gregg) Adams of Carbondale, Colorado; Janet Stallings of Conneaut, Ohio; and Patrick (Heather) of Haslett, Michigan; as well as son-in-law Bruce Wheeler of Glendale, Arizona; daughter-in-law Sandra Doran of Mayfield Heights, Ohio; 14 grandchildren,12 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Mary grew up in Baltimore, Maryland with her four wonderful siblings, who all passed before her. Guided by her Catholic faith, she had her sights set on becoming a doctor, until a shortsighted advisor said that it wasn’t a career for a woman. She then took the route of the nursing profession where she met Bill at a hospital lab. Working together, over several decades, Bill and Mary improved the lives of many through their callings to the medical profession.

Mary embodied kindness, compassion, faith, curiosity, and adventure. She passed many lessons on to her children, and their children, and so on.

She taught us to treat all people with respect and to make everyone feel special regardless of their circumstances.

Mary also imparted a love of the natural world and all God’s creatures. Especially birds! All of us have bird pictures somewhere on our phones. Some of us even have a few too many.

She taught us to love travel - teaching us to gain an appreciation for other cultures, art, music, history, and food (along with an occasional Guinness, Manhattan, or white wine).

She shared her love of words, whether through a game of Scrabble or books. In fact, for the past several years, a monthly, multigenerational family book club with her sister, nieces and grandkids was absolutely the highlight of her routine. She read and took notes and prepared questions in her book journals. It did take her a bit to understand that book clubs usually spend half their time just chatting about non-book topics, but she came to relish the discussions and connections.

If there was one regret, for 94 years, she believed she was allergic to chocolate. Maybe she was. But, last year she threw caution to the wind and decided to try some. And all was ok.

God bless her. We will miss her earthly presence, and enjoy her vast influence on our lives.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Central Ohio, 2269 Cherry Valley Road NE, Newark, Ohio 43055 or to The Church of St. Edward the Confessor, 785 Newark Granville Road, Granville, Ohio 43023.

McPeek Hoekstra Hoskinson Funeral Home is honored to care for Mary and her family.