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CVS/Pharmacy purchased flowers
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
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Linda Doty will remain in our hearts forever.
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Mathew Leon Doty posted a condolence
Saturday, January 18, 2020
I am so sorry for our loss Uncle Gary. The Huberdeau Family as well. I'm so sorry. I recently saw her at my Uncle Rogers 70th Birthday last year for the first time in what seemed to be 20 years. She welcomed Mark April and I with open arms as if time had never passed. I left the party missing my family 5 minutes after. It had been too long. I will be attending the arrangements along with my brother and his wife. If there is anything I can do Uncle Gary please contact me: 585-737-1829 Mathew L.Doty
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Laura klehamer posted a condolence
Friday, January 17, 2020
Such an inspirational Woman. Always a kind word, and a wicked sense of humor! My thoughts are with you Gary and family. RIP dear lady. Laura K
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David Jones posted a condolence
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Linda thank you for many years of being :
A Friend
A Neighbor
A Part of the family
Linda thank you for:
Landscaping a beautiful yard
Baking fine baked goods
Being an hard working elegant women
Always asking about ones wellbeing
For watching over us
For setting a good example
For always having a kind word
Enjoying a home grown tomato from our garden
We will miss you
Linda you are and always will be in our prayers.
David Jones
Phillip Jones
Elizabeth Jones “Late”
Dr. Robert P. Jones
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Brandi Owensby uploaded photo(s)
Saturday, January 11, 2020
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“What would Doty do?” is a question I return to frequently as an educator and a woman. The answer, when I wait for it, always leads me to a better choice than I would have made independent of her guidance. I was eleven when I walked into her room for the first time, an awkward outsider with almost no social skills and even less self-worth. I was full rage and questions, with limited tolls to examine or express myself. I did have writing; my pen could say things that I wasn’t brave enough to give voice to (yet). And from the moment I became hers, I had Mrs. Doty too.
I admired her immediately. She was sincere, warm, and quick to laugh. She carried herself with pride and grace, sporting her signature neck scarf and pencil skirt. Kindness and patience radiated from her, along with the kind of strength and moxie I’m still striving for. She wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable in front of us. More than once she shared how much she missed her mother, a pain I was familiar with for deeply different reasons. Looking up at her from my 7th-grade desk, I desperately wanted to be her.
She introduced me to Ponyboy Curtis, Scout Finch, Juliet Capulet, Maya Angelou, Jane Austin, Robert Frost, Charles Dickens, Emily Dickenson and Toni Morrison. She pushed me towards excellence as a writer where others had let me slide by with proficiency. I can still hear her say, “There is always a more dynamic choice than ‘nice’ or ‘very. Vary is for sentence structure.’” She recruited me to write for “The Viking Press” (shoutout to my run in the horoscope section, where I so cleverly and unsuccessfully tried to pair myself with my sagittarius crush) and provided me the platform to perform a piece I had written publically for the first time. She also held me accountable for my work, angering me by writing a bold “0” next to my name on her infamous chart. It was the only one I ever received. High expectations combined with authentic relationships have always brought out the best in me.
It was on a class field trip with her that I really discovered Theatre and, directly through that experience, became involved in it. “Theatre is living literature,” is something she told us before the trip and it is still guiding my practice today. It was over class tea-parties, celebrations and breakfasts at McCormacks’ that she stealthy taught me the “rules” of the middle class, rules that would become necessary as I left my hometown and the poverty that defined my youth. She encouraged my longing to see more of what was out there. When she told me “someone” (looking back, it had to be her) had sponsored me to travel with the Teen Tours trip to New York City, I was ecstatic! Over the course of several summers, I would see the bright lights of Broadway, feel the winds of Chicago, and walk the cobbled streets of Boston by her side.
How many of her lunch hours did she entertain my teenage woes or just give me a space to escape the noise and social hierarchy of the cafeteria? How often did we share “silent sustained reading” before the term was even coined? It’s incredible how special she could make me feel just by passing along a book she thought I’d enjoy or learn from. I now know how profoundly valuable those lunch hours are. I made myself useful then by assembling creative bulletin boards and taking on some of the more tedious grading. But only now, with my own safe space to offer, can I really repay that debt.
Twenty-four years later, I can still see that room and I still lean into her lessons. I no longer want to be her. I don’t need to be. I’ve grown (and continue to grow) into my own kind of woman, my own kind of teacher. Also, I’m now the kind of person who uses “y’all” (Sorry, Mrs. Doty, but it’s just a conjunction and it’s more inclusive). I don’t mythologize her as I once did, but value her as tangible proof of the power of one caring adult. Fred Rogers famously said “All of us have special ones who loved us into being.” Mrs. Doty helped love me onto this path, the one that brought me to Winthrop, to Will, to 302, to Rori, to all of the students I’ve loved and will love.
I’m immeasurably grateful to her and for her, as I was thankfully able to tell her more than once as an adult. As she continued the work (long after her retirement, running her own businesses and volunteering for countless worthy causes), I’ll continue to carry her with me for the rest of my life in my words and in my work. “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.” Mrs. Doty was both.
If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.
-Emily Dickinson
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
-Robert Frost
Janet Malbon Wisniewski posted a condolence
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Linda was in my first grade class at Groveland Street School, Haverhill, Massachusetts. She was one of the original members of "The Pleasure Loving Club", and a true friend. I loved to go to her house to play, and especially loved Mrs. Huberdeau's Congo bars. We lost touch over the years, but when I moved to the Rochester, NY area, we reconnected. I have such a happy memory of Linda and her mom visiting one afternoon. My heart is breaking for those she left behind.
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rance miller posted a condolence
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Gary,
Linda was the activities director at Clinton Crest while I was there recuperating from heart surgery. Her smiling face raised everyone's spirits in the place.May she rest in peace .
Rance
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Laurie Adams uploaded photo(s)
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
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Linda was in the Class of 1971 at Keuka College. Today, I read the quote she put with her senior picture and couldn’t help but think how she stayed true to herself throughout her life.
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Steve Marchionda posted a condolence
Monday, January 6, 2020
Gary, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I only met Linda a couple times and what little I knew of her, one thing was clear ... she was a great person. If there is anything I can do please let me know. Steve Marchionda
Bonnie Bartlett Clendenin posted a condolence
Monday, January 6, 2020
Gary, please accept our sincere condolences. Linda's light always shined so brightly and we will miss her smiling face. Her spirit will remain as a gentle reminder of all of the wonderful gifts she gave through her volunteer work. If you are planning a memorial for her here on St. Croix, we would love to attend. We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. Hoping that you are surrounded by a loving family and wonderful memories. All the best to you, John and Bonnie Clendenin
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The family of Linda J. Doty uploaded a photo
Sunday, January 5, 2020
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