Doris Gore

Doris Gore, long time resident of Orlando, Florida, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family after a brief illness on the evening of Friday, January 12, 2024 at her daughter’s home in Winter Park where she lived in recent years.   

 Doris was born in Springhill, Nova Scotia, the sixth and youngest child of the late Sam and Semhia Joseph.  As a teenager, after graduation from college, she moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Doris worked for Moir’s Chocolates factory and later the Canadian Broadcasting Company before sailing on the Cunard Line to Europe in 1960. She lived in London, England working as a secretary and traveled extensively.   

While on vacation, Doris met her husband Graham.  Falling in love at first sight, they married a few months later on March 3, 1962 and cherished 58 years together.  They had two children, Linda and Michael.  As an Air Force wife, Doris moved several times around the world and cared for her children while her husband was deployed, sometimes for a year at a time. She and her husband settled in Orlando in 1971.  She became a naturalized citizen in 1987 and was proud of her U.S. citizenship as well as her Canadian heritage. 

Doris ferried her children from Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, piano lessons, track and band practice, and friends’ houses.  She worked at the school to ensure she was home with her children in the morning, afternoons and all summer. 

Doris began her second working career in 1972 as a secretary for Orange County Public Schools at Kaley Elementary and Howard Middle School for 20 years before retiring in 1992.  Her retirement was filled with personal achievement,  and traveling with family and friends.  She learned to play the piano, taught herself to swim, and took up photography. 

Doris continued her sense of cultural curiosity throughout her life.  Many summers she would travel with her children to Canada to visit family and friends in her hometown of Springhill as well as the Magdalene Islands, Halifax and Vancouver.  Doris made sure her family took full advantage of living in a vacation destination - arranging frequent getaways to the Don CeSar, Key West, St. Augustine, Steinhatchee, Sanibel Island and Cedar Key. One Christmas was planned around the road trip to New Orleans to see the museum exhibit of the Treasures of Tutankhamun. Doris and Graham traveled extensively across the continental United States as well as Alaska and Hawaii, and in the Caribbean and many European countries.   

 Doris loved watching fireworks on the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve.  She was always up for a road trip to enjoy watching the sunrise at Daytona Beach, to watch space shuttle launches in Titusville (day or night), or to go looking for the best Christmas lights several nights in December.  

Doris was a loyal and loving friend.  She remained close to many of her childhood friends including Ms. Brenda Irving of Wales, Great Britain.  They met as pen pals at age 14 and continued to write and visit one another throughout their life.  They traveled and shared many adventures together.  The late Ms. Shirley Delaney of Vancouver, BC, was her best friend, workmate, and maid of honor.  They met working together in Halifax in the 1940’s and remained close until Shirley’s passing in 2020.  

Doris is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Linda and Alan Watts of Winter Park, Florida, son Michael Gore of Los Angeles, California, and grandson Robert Watts of Winter Park, Florida, as well as many nieces and nephews.  She was predeceased by her husband Graham in 2020 and her brothers Edmund Joseph, Peter Joseph, Lawrence Joseph, and sisters Marjorie Shama and Adel Gilbert all of Canada.  

Funeral services will be held Monday, January 22, 2024, at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Orlando, Florida. The family welcomes friends and family to visitation at 10am to be followed by services at 11am.