Doris Conklin Mackenzie

Mackenzie, Doris C. (nee Conklin) (September 12, 2024). Beloved wife of the late Joseph W. Mackenzie. Loving mother to Sandra Lloyd, and Holly (Michael) Carlson. Adoring grandmother to Mac (Joann), Kate, Duncan (Margi), Ben (Te-Ping), and Hannah. She will also be missed by her 7 great-grandchildren. Relatives and friends are invited to Doris’ visitation Saturday 9/21, 10 am to 11am at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 235 Summit Ave., Fort Washington, PA 19034. Her memorial service will follow at 11am. Interment Private. In lieu of flowers contributions in Doris’ name may be made to the Pennsylvania SPCA 350 E. Erie Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19134-9987 or to Germantown Friends School  31 West Coulter Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144

Doris was born on Dec. 1, 1927 to her parents, Dorothy (Foster) and Tom Conklin and grew up along with her older brother Tommy during the depression in Wyncote, PA. She graduated from Germantown Friends School in 1945 where she made lifelong friends and attachments. She went on to Centenary College in Hackettstown, NJ, and earned an Associates Degree in early childhood education. Tragically, her parents were killed in a car accident when she was 19. She continued to live with her beloved grandmother and spent a few years teaching nursery school in West Philadelphia prior to meeting her husband, Joe, through The Wyncote Players in 1950. They married in 1951, spent a few years in Arlington, VA, and welcomed their two daughters into their family. After a short stint in Cleveland, OH, they settled on Plymouth Rd. in Glenside, PA, where they lived for over 50 years. For nine years she co-owned a gift and antique shop, The Copper Lantern in Glenside, then, always a collector, she continued as an antique dealer doing antique shows and flea markets. Along the way she and Joe acquired five brilliant grandchildren (just ask her) and many rescue dogs. After spending numerous summer vacations with children and grandchildren on Long Beach Island, they discovered that they loved the Poconos and bought a house at Twin Lakes in Shohola, PA, where she and Joe spent every summer after 1994 and made more wonderful friends.

Doris pursued many MANY hobbies and projects over the years… there were penny messages, dressed mice, painted furniture, a book of original poems illustrated by her grandchildren, and she helped organize a celebrity auction for the Cheltenham Historical Society. In keeping with her ability to turn any of life’s twists and turns into a great story, she assembled and published three books of anecdotes and memories collected from friends and family. She never ran out of ideas or enthusiasm. In 2009 she and Joe moved to Springhouse Estates in Springhouse, PA, and continued to make friends and enjoy the next generation of children, now 7 in all. Joe passed away in 2012, and in 2022 after a fall and hospitalization, Doris moved to her final home at Normandy Farms Estates where she was given excellent care, was visited by all of her family regularly, and of course, made more wonderful friends. Doris was truly a funny lady and a beloved friend, adored wife, parent, grandparent, and Great Gammy.