Doris Corrigan (lower left) with then-Speaker Quinn (R), turning out for Hillary Clinton. Assemblyman Dick Gottfried and Tom Duane, upper left, were at Doris' memorial service last weekend. |
You sometimes don't find out the full extent of their contributions after they die and a memorial service is held for them.
Jane Wood in Chelsea was one of those people, saving so many from evictions from their homes.
Little-known fact: Doris attended Hogwart's, which explains a LOT. Here she is graduating from the junior school at Hogwart's. |
Another was Mae Doris Corrigan, who was at the forefront of every Chelsea humanitarian and anti-discrimination cause for one-third of a century.
A memorial for Doris Corrigan was held last weekend from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hudson Guild in Chelsea. It was opened by Ken Jockers of Hudson Guild.
Laura Morrison. Photo JTM. |
State Sen. Brad Hoylman. Photo JTM. |
Her health began to deteriorate in 2011 when she was hospitalized after a fall, said Laura Morrison, a community liaison officer for state Senator Brad Hoylman and a long-time friend of Doris’s.
Morrison and Tom Schuler, a former Democratic district leader for Chelsea, helped Doris in her W. 20th St. apartment at the end of her life. They and Steven Skyles-Mulligan, current Democratic district leader for Chelsea, made it possible for Doris to remain in her Chelsea apartment for as long as possible, and found her a nursing home on W. 112th St.
Born Mae Doris Clark, she was raised in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and went to Wayne University in Detroit. She moved to New York and married journalist Frank Corrigan. Years later, Doris became his full-time caregiver when he became seriously ill. He died in 1982.
She was always dependable and then indispensable. She came to the Chelsea-Clinton News office on 24th St. in the late 1970s after she lost an advertising job somewhere. [...] She took care of the details in everything she did.
State Senator Duane, District Leader Corrigan and Governor (Mario) Cuomo. |
The Proclamation by then-City Council Speaker Christine Quinn expresses "gratitude" of the City of New York to Trentlyon and Corrigan for “breaking down the wall that kept Chelsea removed from its waterfront."Speaker Christine Quinn called them “living legends of the West side.”
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (L) and former District Leader Kathy Kinsella, with Steven Skyles-Mulligan behind at right. Photo by JT Marlin. |
Councilman Corey Johnson |
Rep. Jerry Nadler praised Doris' work on parks and on the fight against the West Side Stadium as proposed sequentially by Mayors Giuliani (baseball) and Bloomberg (football).
Kathy Kinsella, former president of the Chelsea reform club said of Corrigan:
Corey Johnson, the District 3 city council member, noted that Doris remembered the trees she had planted. She was at work so many years that some of the trees she planted on the blocks have grown to their full glory. He said: "Doris was Chelsea. She was involved in every community win and every battle over the last generation."She was famous for her short stature [just under 5 feet] and a short temper that went with it. She was impatient at times, yet a very thorough teacher. She was our go-to person who knew everything and got it all done. Fierce and forceful, kind and generous, Doris will always be with me.
NYC Comptroller Scott
Stringer
Comptroller Scott Stringer, who spoke first, said: "In so many cases, Doris was the one who got it done."
Assemblyman Richard Gottfried said of her: "I knew and worked with Doris for over 30 years. In everything she did, whether service on Community Board 4, or as president of the Chelsea Reform Democratic Club, and later as Chelsea’s Democratic district leader and then Democratic State Committee member, Doris Corrigan was always forceful and energetic and fought for what she believed."
Sources: Some quotes above are excerpted from the reporting of Al Amateau of Chelsea Now and Tara Kyle of DNA Chelsea.
No comments:
Post a Comment