Doris Virginia Singleton

Dr. Doris Gunderson Singleton, 90, passed away on December 20, 2015. She was born and raised in rural Clay County, Minnesota, and graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. In 1955, she earned an MS in English from the University of Oregon and then, in 1960, a Ph.D. in English and Reading from the University of Minnesota.

In 1954, Dr. Gunderson began teaching at Concordia College. In 1960, she went to work for the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in the Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education in Washington, DC. After 29 years of service, she retired from the U.S. Department of Education as a Supervisory Education Program Specialist where she provided national leadership and technical assistance to state and local agencies on adult basic education and secondary education, and English-as-a-Second Language programs.

Afterwards, she worked as an educational consultant and volunteered for over 20 years as a grants manager and specialist in Family Literacy helping turn proposals into successful programs all over the country.

Any friend or family member knew to be prepared to discuss one of her passions: politics, reading, theater, jazz, and her dog Olivia. As a life-long, die-hard Democrat, Dr. Gunderson could hold her own on talks of politics over the decades, with a recall of facts and figures that would rival those of any of today’s professional political pundits.

Dr. Gunderson is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Carlton Singleton, and her two brothers, Glenn and Emmett Gunderson. She is survived by two nephews: Dave Gunderson, Madison, WI, and Dean Gunderson, Arden Hills, MN; and two nieces: Sharon Ryback, St Louis, MO, and Barbara Marshall, Shoreview, MN; a sister-in-law, Ruth Gunderson, Fargo, ND; and the children of her late husband: Sara Singleton, Bellingham, WA, and Jeffery Singleton, Boston, MA.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, January 17, 2016, at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St NE, Washington DC. A gathering of friends and family will follow the service in the church Parish Hall.