Doris Mae Court Teti

Doris Mae Court PowerTeti - September 16, 1924 - September 23, 2020 REMEMBRANCE OF A LIFE WELL-LIVED “I want to die young, as late as possible.”- Ashley Montague Doris Court Teti, the indomintable “Energizer Bunny,” who loved her large extended family, her many friends, travel, new experiences, and living life to its fullest, died young, and as late as possible, on Wednesday September 23, 2020 at Riderwood in Silver Spring, MD. She was 96. Education and life-long learning are among the key themes of her life. “No one can take your education away from you”, Doris told her children, grandchildren, students, and the many people she tutored over the years. She excelled as a student throughout - as a graduate of Wilson High School and George Washington University, where she was one of 13 honor students receiving scholarships in 1942, winning the Byron Andews Scholarship “for ambitious and needy students.” While she loved botany, a choice of study one professor urged her to follow, she chose mathematics as a major, as she would not need to write research papers. Her excellence with numbers earned her a summer job one year in college, of working in the office of one of the first researchers of population growth. Upon graduation from GWU Doris taught mathematics at Penn State to returning WWII American GIs who were completing their undergraduate degrees. Later, with all of the children in school, she earned her graduate degree in education from the University of Delaware, and returned to teaching college level mathematics at the Wilmington, DE campus of Widener University. In April 1944, Doris married J Harry Power who she met in her freshman year at GWU. He interrupted his college education to become a young Marine officer during WW II, and completed his education at Penn State on his return. From Penn State, Doris and Harry returned to Washington, DC, began a family (which ultimately grew to four children) and Harry began his corporate career with Sears, Roebuck and Co. With Harry’s career advances came many moves - primarily on the East Coast between Washington, DC and Boston, MA. Doris was always an expert planner and organizer, which was invaluable in being a rising executive’s wife, raising children, and managing the frequent moves. Doris executed these moves with incredible finesse - selling the current home, finding a new home in the area of a good public school, orchestrating the movers, and settling the family in a new community. She ultimately become a master of the art and science of moving a family and lives with as little upheaval as possible, and could have written a manual on this for other professionally transient families - if she had had the time! At the time, few homes had the number of bedrooms and space Doris wanted. The solution was a short-term rental home, until the new home was completed, which Doris helped design and had built over the summer, ensuring no moves during the school year. Not long into this process of frequent moves Doris designed homes with similar enough floor plans to be able to move from home to home, with each room basically intact! What familiarity and comfort that brought to a family that moved 10 times within 15 years - as well as ease and efficiency in making the moves. Putting family and children’s needs before her own - she enrolled the children in every possible and suitable social and after-school activities, ensuring a quick immersion into making friends and being involved. And without missing a beat, she hosted elegant dinner parties and social events for Harry’s career, and doing all of the cooking herself. As the children got older, attending summer camp became part of the plan for the frequent moves - a solution that worked for everyone. Not only did the children have the same set of friends every summer at crucial stages of their lives, but Doris had more time to devote to organizing the move. One year she even tried the time-saving step of weekly carbon copy letters to the three children at camp, with separate sections for each child, and alternating which child got the original. Unfortunately, the children did not share her enthusiam for this technique. If only email had been around in the 1960s! If there was ever anyone ready to host a party, convene a big family gathering, bring friends together in anyway, or just have a good fun time - it was Doris! Throughout the family raising years, family and friends were frequent house guests. As the child grew up, married, and had their own families, there would be summer gatherings with multiple young families. There was always room for all who came, and she loved the energy and chaos that ensued. Doris remarried in 1978 to John Teti, which added his three children to the fold, and their ensuing families over the years. Until Doris and John moved to the Riderwood Retirement Community in 2004, they always maintained houses ( Wilmington, DE; Kiawah Island, SC; and Westwinds in New Market, MD) that could accommodate growing familiy gatherings, eventually up to seven additional families. This sometimes meant sleeping on mattresses on the floor of the den or four to a room- but it worked and it was festive and fun! And let’s not forget the dancing! In the 60s, one of Doris’s favorite songs was - believe it or not- The Stripper. Granted, her version was family-rated, but she loved to dance to this in the living room. Happily John loved to dance as much as she did. They both impressed everyone by dancing at granddaughter, Lindsey’s wedding to Kit in 2013, and then again at Doris’s 90th birthday in 2014. Doris continued dancing at Riderwood after John’s death in 2015 - joining the ballroom dancing group at Riderwood. There she met Guillermo Olivos, who taught her to Tango. She loved learning the dance, practicing, and then performing for three years at the Riderwood Talent Show. Dancing was not Doris’s only art. She was an accomplished water colorist, although she did not pursue this for long. She was also a highly accomplished seamstress. She began sewing her own clothes as a high school student, because at the time, ready made clothes for women did not come in her size! At a petite 5’ the only ready made clothes that would fit were children’s clothes - and that would not do!. She continued to develop her skill making the children’s clothes in the early years. making drapes for the many homes, and upholstering a number of pieces of furniture over the years. She even made tiny doll’s clothes when her daughers were young. In the years living outside of New York City, Doris would make 2 or 3 trips a year to the garment district to purchase huge amounts of beautiful fabrics not found locally, that became special event dresses and coats over the years. That several of these coats are still in the family attest to the quality of the fabric and the clothing construction. The story of Doris can’t be complete without talking about her petite size - as she was very sensitive about being called short. Consequently she always wore heels, even when on a step ladder- much to her children’s chagrin. In addition to the heels, she always attended to her appearance and dress with grace and style, preferring skirts and dresses over pants. While petite and ladylike in appearance, make no mistake, Doris was a force - intellectual, social and professional. She loved challenging her mind - reading serious works of fiction and nonfiction. The last book she read was The Golden Ratio, by Mario Livio, which was preceded by books on genetics and DNA as well as the latest important fiction. She started each morning with a cover to cover read of both the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. In her last weeks she was engaged with political activity around the upcoming general election. She always did her own taxes, including those for 2019. During her fifteen years at Riderwood she was actively engaged in many of the community activities, clubs and programs. She served on the RAC (Resident Advisory Committee) at Riderwood for many years. She was an avid tennis player, until she gave that up at 90 for pickle ball, table tennis, and ballroom dancing. She attended countless concerts, plays and museums and took courses through Prince George’s Community College in history, politics and current events. She mastered much of modern technology learning to use her Smart Phone to use Uber after she gave up driving herself, texting with family and friends, and learning to Zoom with the best during Covid. This amazing dynamo of a woman is all of this and more. She truly lived every day to the fullest, approached everything with a positive can-do attitude, and greeted the world with a smile and her endless positive energy. She has been described as a “Pocket Venus”, and Energizer Bunny” and a force of energy that fills the world around her with joy and love. She instilled in her children and her grandchildren the importance of doing one’s best at all times, to care and love one another, to be strong and purposeful, to greet each day with a smile, and find something to laugh about everyday. She was unique and wonderful.