Doris Jean Stuart

Doris was born in Victoria, B.C. to Mabel (née Thorpe) and Leonard Pryke. She spent her childhood in Victoria, B.C. with her parents and brother, Kenneth.

In 1963, Doris joined the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) as a commissioned officer, serving in operational roles ashore for six years.

Shortly after she was posted to Halifax, N.S., in the fall of 1965, Doris met her future husband, John Stuart, also a commissioned officer in the RCN. They were married on August 13, 1966, in Dundas, Ont., and remained in partnership, love and friendship for nearly 59 years and until her passing.

After Doris’ service with the RCN, she explored several career paths, ranging from retail cashier to medical transcriptionist. Her last employer was Commissionaires Nova Scotia. One of her favourite assignments was the night shift at Dalhousie University’s student residences. Doris took tremendous pride in this responsibility, helping keep these young adults “in line” and safe, a task reminiscent of caring for her children at similar ages.

Since the 1970s, if not earlier, Doris has been sponsoring children and donating to related causes at home and abroad. She was a generous and regular donor to Plan International Canada, Make-a-Wish Canada, UNICEF and Ecology Action Centre.

Doris was also very active in her community. She volunteered for philanthropic organizations throughout Halifax, including her Church, the Anglican Church of the Apostles. As part of her philanthropy, she frequently donated a variety of handcrafted items and dishes to support their fundraising events.

Doris had a voracious appetite for learning and adopting new skills, from patching drywall to fishing. She also had many hobbies, including knitting, crochet and cross stitch. She was an avid reader- nonfiction and fiction. She loved gardening and botany, rarely passing a flower or plant without naming it and sharing a story.

The enduring theme of Doris’ legacy is how she gave of herself to others, especially to children and youth. There is no better example than how Doris opened her arms and heart to her children’s many friends, who spent countless hours in her and John’s home, finding safety, comfort and laughter.

Doris will be forever remembered for her amazing laugh, bright smile, warmth and joie de vivre.

Doris is survived by her husband, John; daughter Mary Stuart and her son Alex Mays; daughter Peggy Kulmala, husband Rory and their children Megan and Madeline; son Charles Stuart, wife Penny and their children Oliver and Evelyn; daughter Anne FitzGibbon and husband Neil; and sister-in-law Diana Haydon (née Stuart) and Nancy Fullerton (née Stuart).

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust online at https://www.cnmt.ca/ or by mail to PO Box 99000, Station Forces, Halifax, N.S., B3K 5X5. Doris’ family will celebrate her life with a small private event in Spring 2025.

A Prayer for Doris:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of this earthly life.

We thank you for the life of our sister in Christ, Doris Jean Stuart, for the years you gave her and the character that you shaped in her.

We thank you for her life, for every memory of love and joy, for every good deed and every sorrow shared with us.

We thank you for the rest in Christ she now enjoys.

We thank you for giving her to us for a time, and we praise you for the glory we shall share together for eternity.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.