Doris M Pope

June 25, 2019

Doris MacCallum Pope passed away peacefully on Tuesday June 25, 2019 at UConn John Dempsey Hospital, Farmington CT. Doris was born to Campbell and Lena MacCallum in Pictou, Nova Scotia, the youngest of thirteen children. As a young woman Doris worked as a fashion model and in the office of the Royal Air Force in Thunder Bay, Ontario. She came to the U.S. to attend the University of Denver and later moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where she was employed by Amica Insurance Company. She also worked as an Arthur Murray dance instructor during the 1950’s. Toward the end of that decade she met Donald Pope at a wedding and the two married and moved to a house Donald built for them in the suburbs of West Hartford. Three children followed: Diane, Darryl and Daniel, and thus the family was sometimes known as the "5 D’s." Doris was a long-time member of the First Church of Christ in West Hartford Center. She was musical and loved traveling to NYC and attending Broadway shows. Doris greatly enjoyed bagpipe music, like any good Scot, as well as Neil Diamond, Robert Goulet, swing music, and "Danny Boy" could bring a tear to her eye. She loved writing poems, gardening and cooking and was an excellent baker, especially of casseroles, scalloped potatoes, breads, pies and cookies. She enjoyed vacationing with her family in Nova Scotia and summering in Cape Cod, and later travelling to Germany, England, Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, St. Thomas and the Canary Islands. Doris also worked as a clerk at the West Hartford Probate Court and later at The Hartford College for Women and The McAuley, but her special passion was for being a mother. Doris was predeceased by her husband Donald and she leaves her children: Diane Pope and her husband John Velletri, their daughter Amanda Velletri and her husband Adam Thompson, and her two sons Darryl Pope and Dan Pope. A private service will be held for the family. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the American Heart Association.