Doris DeMarco, of Shelton, departed this life at age 89 on February 4, 2013.
She was born in Shelton on January 5, 1924 to the late Anna (Riegel) and Leonard Lawson. She was a cheerleader and graduate of Shelton High School.
Doris and future husband Alex were high school sweethearts, named “Best Looking Couple” in the 1941 S.H.S. Yearbook. They were married on March 1, 1944, while Alex served in the Lighter-than-Air blimp division of the U.S. Navy Air Corps. They moved throughout the U.S. during Alex’s WWII Navy career, serving in Florida, Massachusetts and Oklahoma, where their first child was born. Doris and Alex returned to Shelton after the war, settling into and restoring an 18th century saltbox farmhouse that would be their home while raising their family.
They enjoyed their “farm” to the end of their lives. Doris was a talented artist, working in oil painting, interior decorative arts, and floral arrangement. A devoted parishioner at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Huntington, she served many years contributing to the church’s floral arrangements as a member of St. Paul’s Altar Guild. She was a member of the Ripton Garden Club, and enjoyed membership and many awards from the Bridgeport Art League. She shared her love of oil painting by teaching others to paint and continuing to study art, herself.
Doris also had a tremendous love for all animals, most particularly horses and dogs, which were always present on her farm. Her devoted Abruzzi sheepdog, Nana, was Doris’s inseparable companion in her later years. Doris was a member of the International Side Saddle Organization, and proudly rode as part of a side-saddle equestrian escort in President Ronald Reagan’s 1980 inaugural parade.
She was predeceased by her husband, Alex in 2006, her sister and brother-in-law Betty and John Gaynor (Orange), her daughter-in-law, Lyllyth DeMarco, her nephews Michael and Jack Gaynor and many other relatives and friends. She is survived by her children and grandchildren, Karen and David Ware, Costa Rica; Alexander DeMarco and his children Chantal and Jerel DeMarco, Montclair NJ; daughter Andrea DeMarco, Shelton; son Chris and Francine (Hartman) DeMarco and their children Cecilia and Henry DeMarco, Madison WI.
A Spring Funeral and Burial will be held announced Memorial donations in Doris’ memory may be made to the American Humane Association: www.americanhumane.org.
