Doris Larsen Gold passed away in peace on September 3, 2013 at the home of her eldest daughter Kristen Loffler in Lady Lake, Florida. Born to Danish immigrants William and Andrea Nielsen Larsen on February 7, 1922, Doris grew up on a farm just outside the tiny village of Cassville in upstate New York, developing a strong love for nature and animals and discovering a talent for art. While speaking of her childhood there, she would invariably smile. Soon after graduating with a degree in art education from SUNY Buffalo, she met John Sander Gold just as she was beginning her teaching career, and they married in Atlanta in 1945. First in Springville and then in Ithaca and Delmar, NY they raised a family of four children along with a dog and two cats. Especially during her years in Ithaca and Delmar, Doris was blessed with a wide circle of devoted friends, including many associated with the Lutheran churches there. Along with John, she was a founding member of Trinity Lutheran in Ithaca and was very active at Bethlehem Lutheran, helping with events and projects and designing numerous beautiful banners. She also resumed teaching art on a substitute basis and her botanical paintings won several awards. After surviving a serious bout with cancer in the early 1970s and following John’s death in 1987, she lived for two decades independently in the house they had built together on a lovely site in the countryside near Feura Bush, NY. During this period she demonstrated an extraordinary ability to enjoy life on her own. Tireless, Doris spent much of her time caring for the house and gardens, drawing, painting and sewing, and enjoying hikes and the wildlife, especially the bluebirds she encouraged to nest on her land. But she was also a very sociable person and was involved in a variety of organizations, such as the Progress Club and the Embroiderer’s Guild. Doris deeply treasured and depended upon the dear friends with whom she shared innumerable activities and adventures. Maintaining close connections with her many in-laws, reinforced by wide-ranging travels and large festive reunions at John’s ancestral farmstead, was also of great significance to her. In 2007, a mild stroke made her independent life no longer possible, a transition that was difficult for her but never diminished her amazing readiness to laugh, especially at herself. She spent her last years with Kris and her husband Lee in their homes in Glens Falls, NY and Florida, and for their long and loving care the family will be everlastingly grateful. Sensitively engaged in the concerns of everyone around her, forever youthful and adventurous in outlook, and indomitable in spirit, Doris will be sorely missed.
Doris is survived by her daughters Kristen (Lee Loffler) of Lady Lake, FL and Patricia (Jeff Lallas) of Ithaca, NY and her sons Brian (Marcia Skalnik) of Trumansburg, NY and Jeffrey (Cindy Messina) of Atlanta, GA; grandchildren Peter (Susanna Samet) and Kira Lallas and Evan Gold; and a great-grandchild Phoebe Lallas. In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her brother Burt and her nephew Carl.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Applebee Funeral Home in Delmar. Funeral services will be held on September 14, 2013 at 1:00 PM at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Delmar.
In lieu of flowers, friends may wish to make donations to the Audubon Society, the John Gold Memorial Garden at Bethlehem Lutheran in Delmar, or their local animal shelter.
Condolences may be left at www.beyersfuneralhome.com.
Beyers Funeral Home and Crematory, Lady Lake/The Villages, FL in charge of local arrangements.
