Doris H. White

Doris White Soares, 67, passed away in San Antonio on November 30, 2024, after a long journey with cancer. A sixth-generation Texan, she was the younger daughter of Leevester Gilbert White and Lois Cooper White, and sister of Lois Diane White, all of whom predeceased her.

Born August 13, 1957, Doris Helene grew up on the Eastside, the historic center of Black life in San Antonio. After attending local public schools, she graduated from Keystone School in 1974. At Central State University, a historically Black college in Wilberforce, Ohio, she earned her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in English Literature (1978). Her stellar college record led to a prestigious Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Fellowship at Boston University School of Law, from which she earned her Juris Doctor in 1982.

Doris wed teacher and jazz pianist Steven Michael Soares of New Bedford, Massachusetts, on December 3, 1983, at Bethel AME Church in San Antonio before relocating with him to the Greater Boston Area. The couple enjoyed 41 years of marriage until her death.

For more than 30 years in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Attorney White built a flourishing legal career in the government sector. She represented the Department of Social Services as an adoption attorney for more than a decade, until, in 2000, she was appointed Assistant Attorney General in the Government Bureau’s Trial Division. Her reputation as a fearless, skilled advocate in the courtroom was recognized in 2013, when she received the Attorney General Scott Harshbarger Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy. Doris also dedicated herself to mentoring early career lawyers. She coordinated office-wide trainings, supervised the legal internship program for her bureau, and traveled across the country as a faculty member for the National Association of Attorneys General Training and Research Institute in Washington, D.C.

Doris brought dynamic engagement and leadership to every area of her life. Not only did she serve as president of the Boston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and the sorority’s first Tri-State Coordinator in the Eastern Region, but she was also appointed as Jack and Jill of America’s National Legal Advisor and Eastern Region Teen Conference Coordinator. During her years living in Newton, Massachusetts, she sat on Historic Newton’s Joint Board of Directors and served as president of the Memorial-Spaulding Parent Teacher Organization.

Upon returning home to San Antonio in 2014 to help care for her aging mother, Doris continued her commitment to community engagement. She maintained active membership in the San Antonio Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, spearheading plans for nationally award-winning programs that highlighted the contributions of Delta women and Black institutions in the history of the city. She was also involved in the San Antonio Black Lawyers Association (Board of Directors), San Antonio Associates Group of Jack and Jill (Life Member), Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association, and Bethel AME Church’s Lay Organization (Past President).

Doris met her synchronous cervical and uterine cancer diagnoses with her characteristically energetic, positive, and faithful spirit. For more than two years, she raised awareness about the experiences of Black women living with gynecological cancer, authoring blog posts for CURE, Cervivor, and SHARE, and participating in panels, podcast interviews, and more. She found solidarity in multiple cancer support groups, even establishing one at her church.

Doris is survived by her husband Steven Soares, San Antonio; daughter Dr. Leigh Alexandra Soares and husband Marcus Parker, Maryland; son Steven Cooper Soares, Massachusetts; grandson Miles Henry Soares Parker, Maryland; as well as close relatives and friends across the country.

A memorial service will be held at Bethel AME Church, 225 N. Swiss St., San Antonio, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, December 11, 2024. The family welcomes flowers sent to the church as well as donations made to the American Cancer Society in her memory.

Interment will be held at Meadowlawn Cemetery at a later date.