Alda B. Doering

Alda B. Doering, 93, died peacefully on October 3 at Broward Nursing and Rehabilitation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Originally from Huntington, New York, she was the first of three children born to Bernice (Mace) and Augustus da Silva. She was known for her strong Christian faith and for her work ethic and thrift. As a young girl she began working after school at her father's photo studio, making ID photos. During World War II, along with many of her friends, she worked at an aircraft parts plant on Long Island.

It was during the war that she met a dashing sailor from Michigan named George Franklyn Doering who she married in 1943. Their only child, a son, named George Franklyn Doering, Jr., was born in 1944. Alda and George were two of the early pioneers of suburbia as George began working as a construction supervisor for Levitt Homes after the end of the war and they lived in the initial Levittowns in New York and Pennsylvania.

With a good head for figures and customer service, she worked for a number of years at a newsstand before buying and operating her own card and gift shop. In the mid 1950s she and her husband became interested in raising beagles and showing them in AKC events throughout the Northeast. At first, they hired trainers and handlers and their dogs won many competitions. But Alda was determined to learn everything about showing the breed and one of the highlights of her life was achieving Grand Champion status with a 15-inch beagle named King's Bow or Kibo for short that she campaigned herself. Although she gave up breeding beagles decades ago, she loved watching televised dog shows, commenting on both the confirmation of the animals and the skills of the handlers.

Alda was active with the Fallsington United Methodist Church in Fallsington, PA, and with Grace Church in Kendall, Florida, where she and her late husband helped with the church's building program. She achieved lay minister status and served in prison ministry and directed church youth groups. After Hurricane Andrew destroyed her home in 1992, she moved to Fort Lauderdale to live with her son and daughter-in-law. Later, she joined Faith Church in Tamarac after moving to that city in 2000. She was fiercely loyal to God, country and family.

She was predeceased by her husband in 1984 and by her son in 2016. She is survived by her grandchildren, Tia Doering Williams and Othello Doering, both of Miami; nieces Cori Hutcheson and Kelli Vokaty also of Miami, Candice da Silva of Hollywood, Karen Enstad of Georgia and Cynthia Smith of Wisconsin; and nephews Keith and Kenneth Soltys; numerous great nieces and nephews, and by her daughter-in-law Marilyn Mower of Tamarac, Florida and her cat, Baby. As per her wishes, her ashes will be scattered at sea in a private family service on October 14, 2018.