WILLIAM ALLEN DORAN

Bill Doran, the 14th child, 5th son, of David Daniel and Sarah Jane Pickard Doran was born on October 27, 1916 in DuBois, PA, probably at 112 1/2 Evergreen St. He was baptized in St. Catherine's Church on November 16th; his godparents may have been Al Terry & M. MaGarretty (though Bill didn't think so). In the 1917? Doran family photograph, brown-eyed Bill is the baby on his mother's lap.

When Bill arrived, Sarah notified Gerald who was living with her sister, Lucille Muchler, in nearby Knoxville. He replied: "Your letter came like a bolt out of nowhere and struck me almost dumb, why I was expecting to read anything except that I had a brother Bill Pickard (!) Doran. Now I had planned to come home for Christmas but since events have shaped themselves into such a happy state, I fear I cannot wait that long, and should an opportunity present itself soon I'll come up and size the future president up and if he passes the Nat'l board of censors why we'll place him on the Dem. ticket, and elect him Billy Doran the most spoiled kid in captivity.(11/8/1916)" Aunt Lucille later gave Bill a toy drum. [Did that start him on his career in music?] His sister, Louise, complained to Gerald "Bille is so bad now days. Bille smokes Daddy's pipe and Bille fights Paul and David all the Time."(11/15/1918)

Bill Doran attended St. Paul's Cathedral School in Pittsburgh, PA. In 1929, he and Howe Street neighbor, Al McRae, built model sailboats (gaff rigged sloops) by laboriously shaping the wood with sandpaper and broken glass. Gyp, the Doran dog, drove him nuts, following him everywhere. As a Boy Scout (Troop 52), Bill enjoyed time at Deep Creek Lake, at Camp Boyle, McHenry, MD. At home, Bill wrote & typed up a newsletter,"The King of the Forest" for fellow patrol members. Brown haired Bill attended Central Catholic High School for one year. He then worked in a shoe store for his father before switching to Peabody High School, graduating in June 1937.

Bill's brother, Gerald, was an accomplished violinist & trombone player. Soon Bill also took up the trombone which he enjoyed playing all his life. At Peabody, Bill was in the Senior Orchestra & Senior Band (1934-37). Bill also played in the All City Orchestra in 1937. One of Bill's closest friends was Ralph V. Stack. The two would spend hours just rocking in companionable silence on the Howe Street porch. Ralph was often the one pushed out the Doran's front door on New Year's Eve with a roll of new dimes, a carrot, coal, and a piece of bread. He would thus bring, to the household, symbols of hope for a year free of want. Ralph remained close to the Doran's, adopting them as his family. Ralph became a parish priest, (lastly pastor of St.Hugh's Church, Carmichaels, PA) officiating at the funeral of his surrogate mom, Sarah Doran, in 1965.

Left-handed Bill (5'7") went into the army, September 17, 1941. He began training as a rifleman/ sharpshooter in boot camps at Camp Croft, SC & Ft. McClellan, near Birmingham, AL. Serving in the 314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Division, Bill arrived in Europe, November 9, 1944. While operating his machine gun, Bill was wounded one month later, Dec. 9, 1944 in the Hagenau Forest (7:30 am.). Doctors reattached most of his right thumb, but Bill spent years recuperating in hospitals (England; Crile General Hospital near Cleveland, OH; Valley Forge General Hospital, PA). After his Army discharge, May 1947, Bill came to live with his sister, Jean Halli, & her family in Baltimore, MD. (Bill's dad had died while he was in the service; the Howe St. home gone). Soon Bob Halli & Bill were working on a model train garden for Bob Halli, Jr. (1946), carefully fashioning the cars while Jean Halli and her sister, Ruth, worked on the buildings. The last time Bill set up his model train garden was December 1997.

Before the Halli's second child, Nancy, arrived in 1949, Bill, Ruth, and Sarah Doran moved from the Halli's (5810 Key Ave.) into a second floor apart ment at 4627 Kavon Ave in Baltimore. Bill's love of music led him to a job at Fred Walker's Music Store downtown (327 N. Howard St.) where he sold sheet music for 25 years. At Walker's he met the love of his life, Mary Massimini ( 1915- ) who worked in the record department there (1947-1953). Bill was shy. After walking Mary to the bus stop many times, Bill finally asked her out for a beer near the Stanley Theater. They were married September 20, 1952 at the Church of the Ascension, Halethorpe, MD. Hank Henkel (Bill's nephew) and Grace Vanditti (Mary's sister) stood for them. From 1952-1968, Bill & Mary lived in the Upland Apartments, 4404 Old Frederick Rd, then movied to the apartments at 909 Cooks Lane. After leaving Walker's, Mary worked at the Music Mart (1953-1978). Following Fred Walker's retirement, Bill found a job at Shubert's Music Store (10 years).