Doris Colucci
April 10, 1933-December 31, 2010
Doris’s Accomplishments:
First off, as many of you know, she raised 4 very different children, all of them owning their own successful business. She had many different careers, activities and organizations she was involved with during her life.
During her child raising years she was very active in 4-H as a leader and hosted meetings at her house monthly. She managed the chaotic weeks of preparation for the county fair exhibiting, she guided her children and numerous other kids from the 4-H group at the same time, never thinking twice about doing whatever needed to be done.
As her children grew older she sold Lorene products and Tupperware at house parties, this was undoubtedly the beginning of her very successful business career.
Working together with her husband, Bart, she opened a meat market in their home and had a home delivery meat business until the mid 70’s.
In 1971 Doris was licensed as a real estate sales associate. She believed in educating herself, received many business certificates including Graduate Realtor Institute, Certified Residential Specialist and Accredited Buyer Agent. She was Director for many years with the Ulster County Board of Realtors and Multiple Listing Service.
In 1973, Doris and Bart opened Colucci Real Estate in Gardiner. In 1979 they bought a Century 21 business franchise and became Century 21 Colucci Real Estate and moved the business from Gardiner to New Paltz . Doris served on the Board of Directors of Century 21 and her company was awarded numerous achievement awards for top sales in the county. They ran the Century 21 office as a very successful business until 1997 when they sold it and started a somewhat more subdued life on the farm where they lived. Doris continued to sell real estate until 2007.
She was a member of and deeply involved in volunteering with New Paltz Chamber of Commerce. Doris served on the Board as well as numerous committees for the Chamber. She spearheaded a beautification effort in New Paltz which included decorating the telephone poles on Main Street in the summer with hanging flowers (supervising their watering) and in the winter with holiday decorations.
In 2003 Doris was awarded the Community Service Award through the New Paltz Chamber of Commerce at a dinner party at Mohonk Mountain House.
Doris’s Eulogy:
MOM
We Love You
You’re the world’s greatest mom to us.
Welcome, and thank you to all who have come to honor Doris. Over the next few minutes I hope to tell a bit about a faithful Wife, a loving Mom, an active grandma, a good friend, and public servant, whom I am privileged to call my Mom. As many of you know, she was not well over the last 2+ years; however that is not the woman I am going to tell you about. I know she was a great influence in many of our lives. Some of her character traits I will remember, her love to laugh, God fearing, loving, funny, social, hard working, professional, business owner, caring, giving, a practical joker, outgoing, good looking, smart, extremely independent, green thumb, industrious, adventurous, and a great role model, just to mention a few.
Her energy as a business professional, top notch. She enjoyed every interaction. She involved herself in the community
I was reminded of a verse in the Bible found in Proverbs 31:29 that describes you, Mom, it reads;
Many a women have done well, but you excel them all.
Practical joker; Mom was such a good sport. I remember the time you and Dad cooked up a joke on George Watts by dumping bags of little foam squares into his Corvair (I think that’s what it was), which I’m sure was in return for something he had done to you. Or the time you put cool whip on some dried up horse dung and brought it to good friend’s house as dessert. Thank you for those wonderful memories. Gonna miss you.
How about the time you and Dad hit the deer near the Ulster County fair grounds on the way to work and you talked dad into throwing it in the trunk. That 5 minute ride back home must have been a surprise when that knocked unconscious deer came back to life locked in there. I wish we had a YouTube video of that moment Dad opened the trunk and that deer jumped out onto our lawn. It’s a good thing it wasn’t the station wagon. I remember the time we were on the meat market delivery route and we lost the money purse. You were real worried; you said we can’t go home until we find it. We retraced our route, wow, how emotional you got when I saw it on the side of the road and all the coins were in the ditch. We checked it out knowing there was over a thousand dollars in it. Thank God everything was there. What a relief it was to now be able to return to the shop and make light of it to Dad so he wouldn’t get upset with us.
Mom never liked being bed bound, even when you were in St. Francis Hospital over 15 years ago with all those wires connected to you from head to toe. They tried to find something wrong with you (of course they found nothing). It may have had something to do with your uncooperativeness. I remember coming to visit and you telling me to give you your clothing because you were leaving. I told you the wires are taped to your head and torso, which did not stop you. Your ability to escape from the care facilities was a testament to that even in your last years. How many times Dad and the family received calls from the facility saying she escaped!
Family get togethers; The family gatherings, your favorite and ours, always a home cooked meal. I don’t remember ever eating a store bought meal. She took pride in cooking, how she loved new recipes, baking those apple pie, pumpkin pies, making grape jelly, strawberry jelly, canning those peaches, and the tomato sauce was of coarse our favorite (and everyone else’s). Who could forget her 5 gallon pot of spaghetti sauce bubbling on the stove top, filled with your homemade meatballs and a few surprises, Dad always dipping the bread in it while you weren’t looking, your to die for lasagna that you would make for Dad’s birthday on New years Eve; we’re gonna miss you. She loved get togethers with family and friends. It was never unusual to have new comers to the community at Mom’s table. We had to always be ready to meet someone new, as you never knew who she had invited. I think some were even a surprise to Dad, but conversations were always good and lively. The holidays, with sometimes over 40 people gathered in the dinning room and kitchen sharing a meal was a common sight. I will remember the Lorene parties you did long ago, the Tupperware parties, and beeline clothing. It never mattered where the event was, you always enjoyed yourself. You continually reached out to new families and you enjoyed that so much. It came naturally to you.
Caring; Thank you for the times we had together when you allowed us to share our difficult struggles, and confessions to you realizing how I hurt you in those partying life times, and the tears of healing that were so necessary we shared together. Thanks for taking us on all those camping trips, first in the 64 Olds F-85 wagon, throwing a mattress in the back and going to Florida, no car seats or seat belts, then in the slide-in camper Dad built for the pickup truck, seeing places from Maine to Miami. Thank you for how you cared for your own Dad and Mom in their later years, not to mention caring for both your Grandmothers as well. It seem to come so naturally to you. You were there when your Grandchildren were born. You always said “I love you”, and we know you meant it, even when we didn’t deserve it. You would always say “I only want the best for you”, or “you can do anything you put your mind to”. Thank you for your constant unfailing love and encouragement.
Hard working; A constant Mom, no grass grew under your feet. As the saying goes, “a body in motion tends to stay in motion”, is true about you.
Mom, your many achievements within the local community stand as testimony. Rising early, working late. Whether you were buying or selling real estate with Mom, she took pride in making sure to find the right fit. I never remember seeing her have a bad day.
Green thumb; Mom, as many of you know, loved her flowers, as was witnessed by her gardens. She would spend many hours there trimming, pruning, laying out, changing pieces around, getting the look she wanted. I remember as a young boy the ivy plant that sat against the center wall between kitchen and dining room. That plant must have been there over 15 years. It started in a small pot, but was soon transferred to a larger pot as it continued to grow. It went up the wall around the living room ceiling/wall line, and it was pinned, tied, and draped over the curtain rod out into the kitchen, more than twice around that area with a size of about 20’x 20’. I’m sure she used some of our chicken manure, and who knows what else.
Her community service involved spearheading the Chamber of New Paltz Beautification Project, which included putting flowers on the poles in the Village. She started the garden project at the thruway entrance, and was able to get a golf cart donated to New Paltz to aid in watering the hanging flower baskets. In 2003 she was awarded the Community service award by the New Paltz Chamber of Commerce.
God fearing; Mom, my/our earliest memories are of you dropping us off to Sunday school, and you and Dad meeting us at church, have proved fruitful. Thank you for giving us the foundation in the faith. Thank you for teaching Sunday School. When you became Sunday School superintendent, you made it hard for us to get out of going, even when we tried to fake sick. Somehow you always seem to know our schemes. Later on in years you would say to me, “God helps those who help themselves”. I thought it was a verse in the bible, and I believe I have come to understand what you meant; as the Bible says somewhere, “Faith without works is dead”. Mom, the evidence of your faith was seen in your works. In the second letter to Timothy, Chapter 4 verses 6b–8a reads; “the time of my departure has come, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge, will award me on that Day”. I remember your excitement and ours when you told us about the alpha class you were taking at GRC, it was your time of spiritual renewal, and recommitment to faith in Jesus the messiah. She believed that, Episcopalians, Baptists, and others should live together in harmony, within the adequate and common belief that we are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus the messiah. She now has joined the great cloud of whitnesses in heaven with those that have gone before us.
Dad, Terri, Paul, Bob–thank you for your unfailing love and care for Mom over these last few years. What a great sacrifice. You are following in Mom’s ways, and probably don’t realize it. Your energy, wow. May God abundantly multiply back to you 100 fold.
Mom, thank you for your training and examples in good values, good morals, servant heart, sound doctrine, integrity, honesty, commitment to marriage, and the institution there of. What a great impact you have on our lives.
We love you!
You are an amazing woman.
I honor you.
We honor you.
Written by: Thomas Colucci
For: Doris Colucci, Mom
January 5, 2011
Thank you to my sister and brothers for their support and input. I could not have done it without you.