Doris E Wenger

Doris Wenger

Doris Eileen Wenger, loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away on February 2, 2016, at the age of 94. A lifelong resident of Stark County, Doris was the first child of Ferd and Mary Ann Mark, and the doting big sister to Merlin James and Joanne. A second brother, Richard, died in infancy.

Before settling in East Canton, the town she adored and that would forever be her true home, she and her parents had lived on the grounds of Shady Hollow Country Club. She loved to reminisce about how her father had helped build the golf course there and how her mother would serve bountiful suppers to family and friends every Sunday evening. She began school in a one-room schoolhouse in Jackson Township and, because there were no other first-graders at the time, she was required to skip a couple grades. Later, Doris used to accompany her father, who managed Stark Ceramics, Inc., to the clay-mining sites scattered throughout the Ohio River Valley. She learned how to drive along those winding, hilly roads at the age of 11 when her father’s cataracts made it impossible for him to do so.

Doris graduated from East Canton High School in 1938, and went on to complete coursework toward a certificate at the Canton Actual Business College. In 1941, she married William Wenger, with whom she had two children, Dennis and Sheryl. Throughout her life, she put her children above everything else and she worked hard to make ends meet and help them succeed. As a young mother, she opened the Hilltop Beauty Shop from the family’s home and she made a living styling women’s hair. She later became the secretary of Timken High School—a position that was known to be second only to the principal’s in keeping school business humming along smoothly—and she remained there for more than 20 years. For at least five of those years, she would leave her job at the high school and drive to Timken Mercy Medical Center to work another full-time shift in the pharmacy. She was a life member of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in East Canton and she also delivered Meals on Wheels until she was in her 80s.

Neena, as she was lovingly called by her family, is survived by her children Dennis (Jenny) Wenger of Hudson, OH, and Sheryl (Nick) Pustay of Granville, OH; grandchildren Beth Wenger (Kevin Lasho) of Lewisville, NC; Ty Wenger (Cheryl Della Pietra) of Branford, CT; Nick (Ellen) Pustay, V, of Los Angeles, CA; Mark Pustay of Santa Fe, NM; and Matthew Pustay (Laura Sahm) of Indianapolis, IN; and great-grandchildren Sydney Wenger-Lasho of Lewisville, NC; TJ Wenger of Branford, CT; and Samuel Pustay of Los Angeles, CA. Also grieving her loss are her sister-in-law, Anne Mark, and her many nieces and nephews, whom she loved as if they were her own.

A memorial service will be Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 1:00 pm in St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, 306 Church Street W., East Canton, Ohio, to celebrate the woman who gave so much to so many of us. Calling hours will be from 12:00 – 1:00 pm and light refreshments will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Doris’s memory to St. Paul’s United Church of Christ (www.stpaulsec.com) and Meals on Wheels of Stark and Wayne Counties (mow-starkwayne.org).

Sanders Funeral Home

330-488-0222

www.sandersfuneralhomes.com