JOHN CHARLES DORAN

John Doran, the 15th child, 6th son, of David Daniel and Sarah Jane Pickard Doran was born on June 10, 1920 in Pittsburgh, PA and was their only child born in a hospital. The blue-eyed, brown haired baby arrived the day after his eldest sister, Hazel's, wedding. He was baptized June 20 and his godparents were Tom Dolan and Frances Lucoe. John was not born in time for either of the Doran family photographs.

John went to St. Paul's Cathedral School and was in the same class as his nephew, Hank Henkel (Hazel's first child). Hank loved to tell his school mates "He's my uncle!" John then went to Peabody High School, 1933-1937. He played drums in a Pittsburgh Drum & Bugle Corps and played in small groups with a metallic blue & silver drum set until about 1950 ó even sitting in one time with Stan Kenton on the Steel Pier, Atlantic City, NJ.

Young John was a bit wild, "a free spirit", with a never ending passion for anything on wheels. According to his daughter, he was forever washing, waxing & polishing. During the Depression when John fell behind in his 1937 DeSoto payments, his brother-in-law, Bob Halli (my dad) took over and then had to figure out how to get the car from Pittsburgh to Baltimore since my dad didn't know how to drive.

After High School, John worked as a Gulf Oil Co.station attendant (1937-1941) in Pittsburgh. The 5'7" youth started dating Dorothy (Dot) Kloos (7/31/1922-5/26/1984) and they eloped, February 24, 1940, moving to 5107 Rural St. Carol Ann, a curly haired blond, was born that October. In May 1941, John took a clerical job with the Glenn L. Martin & he and his family moved down to Baltimore, living with the Halli's (5810 Key Ave). Jean Halli took care of Carol Ann while John & Dot worked. Later, the Doran's moved into an apartment just up the street (5806). Their second child, David Richard, was born in Baltimore, January 1944.

Near the end of WW II, John was inducted into the U.S. Navy, Bainbridge, MD. He lasted a record 10 days (8/2-8/12, 1944) before they agreed that his heart condition (caused by childhood rheumatic fever) truly gave him 4F status. John continued at Martin's until 1945; became owner operator of John & Paul's Sunoco service station on Pulaski Hwy (1945-1950); returned to Martin's as a production clerk (1950-1957); then drove for Diecraft Inc. (Mar. 1957-1958)

In the 1950's both John and Dorothy were spending a lot of time and money in bars while Carol Ann shouldered the responsibility of taking care of both her brother and the household at 11 Gyro Drive, near the Martin plant.By the time Carol Ann got married and moved out, at age 18, John and Dot's marriage had dissolved. They divorced June 2, 1959.

Dot went to Florida with teenage Dave and remarried (Sam Collurafici); Carol and Jim Whitaker began a family (Cynthia Jean, 1959; Deborah Carol, 1962; Timothy James, 1965); and John went through a succession of jobs. When I was young, I thought driving an ice cream truck was the best possible job. Unfortunately Uncle John once stopped for a drink and when he returned to his truck, all the Good Humor ice creams had melted. Finally he sobered up, went to AA, and held a steady job working for the Enterprise Fuel Oil company as a driver (1959-1966 part-time; 1966- 1980 full time).

In the summer of 1965 John's son, Dave, returned from Florida for a visit. His sister got him a date with her babysitter, Carol Short, and soon, David moved back to Baltimore and married little Carol that year (later having Michael David, 1976 & Thomas Jason, 1980).

John smoked stinky cigars and loved sweets especially hard candy. According to Carol, he loved roller coasters, fire towers, and model trains. His CB moniker was "Blue Chip", meaning the Best. He loved the holidays but grumbled a lot about them. However, he always finished his Xmas shopping early and was the first to show up dressed and ready to party. He wore a hat summer & winter; inside and outside.

John also loved to read. He would take piles of paperbacks on the annual fishing trip to Matamoras, PA. He would arrange his lounge just so, start a good book, and fall asleep. He would row out with Bill Doran to fish but was terrified of snakes. Once on the Delaware, John had Bill row over to a nice sunny rock where John intended to stretch out. As John put his foot over the side, Bill made the mistake of warning "Watch out for snakes; they like nice warm rocks." After the loud splash, all Bill could see was John's hat floating beside the boat. Then John surfaced, sputtering. That certainly scared the fish away!

In the early 70's John's children bought him a brand new snare drum for his birthday. So John then added his beat to the New Years Eve festivities at 641Coventry Rd, Towson, MD. He and his brother, Bill (on trombone) would often jam together happily at 900 Mace Ave., where John lived with his daughter Carol & family. John had a good sense of humor and a heart of gold.

When his son, Dave, bought a farm in Whiteford, MD, John was an energetic helper, lugging rocks & painting fences (ever looking out for snakes). He loved watching the polled Herefords, but nothing kept him from his passion of car racing. He would often drive to Talledega, AL for the auto races or the Indy 500. He volunteered to drive the van carrying my furniture to Ardmore, PA in 1976 & cheerfully lugged stuff up 3 flights (including a sofa bed up a fire escape). By then his diabetes and heart problems were getting worse.

In 1981 in the midst of a heart attack he drove himself to Franklin Square Hospital and died a few hours later, at 10:10 pm., on Holy Thursday, April 16, 1981. He is buried in the Gardens of Faith Cemetery, Baltimore, MD, with his sister, Ruth, beside him.

John Charles Doran

Residences:

• 5518 Howe St. Pgh Pa 1920-March 1940
• 5107 Rural St. Pgh, PA March 1940-May 1941
• 5810 Key Ave, Baltimore, MD May 1941-Sept. 1941
• 5806 Key Ave, Baltimore, MD Sept. 1941-March 1945
• 2800 Hemlock Ave, Baltimore, MD March 1945-May 1947
• 58 Henderson Rd, Baltimore, MD May 1947- Nov. 1948
• 11 Gyro Drive, Baltimore, MD Nov. 1948-
• 3502 Spaulding Ave Baltimore, MDApril 1958 - 1959
• 5102 Litchfield Ave Baltimore, MD Oct. 1961
• 5405 Cordelia Ave. Baltimore, MD
• 900 Mace Ave., Baltimore, MD ---- April 16, 1981