Doris Johnson Allebach

Obituary

3/31/26 - 3/9/22

Born in a DuPont company town at Carney's Point NJ, Doris grew up in Woodstown, NJ. Doris attended George School, Campbell Folk School, Black Mountain College, and Syracuse University. Art and art history were central life interests.

A life-long Quaker, Doris was variously a member of the Woodstown, NJ, Scarsdale, NY, and Central Philadelphia Friends Meetings. She always kept an eye on the back-page ads of the Friend's Journal and there she found Farm and Wilderness summer camps and the AFSC-IMYM Joint Service Project in Sonora, Mexico, on which she sent son Fred; both of which became pivotal, life-altering experiences.

Doris was deeply interested in her Norwegian heritage, from the Viking era to US immigrant sagas of which her family was representative. As librarian for the Norsemen's Federation in Tucson, she found and shared a full and fascinating body of Scandinavian literature.

One book, The Dwarf, by Par Lagerkvist had this quote: "In the end human thought accomplishes so little. Its wings are strong, but not as strong as the destiny which gave them to us. It will not let us escape nor reach any further than it desires. Our journey is predestined and, after a brief roaming which fills us with joy and expectation, we are drawn back again as the falcon is drawn back by the leash in the hand of the falconer. When shall we attain liberty? When will the leash be severed and the falcon soar into the open spaces? When? Will it ever be? Or is it not the secret of our being that we are and always will be bound to the hand of the falconer? If this were changed then we would cease to be human beings and our fate would no longer be that of humanity."

Special interests included vernacular architecture, folklore, and adventure/ culture travel. Family history became a huge interest and Doris produced many detailed works, and cultivated relations with far-spread family members. Many early family summers were spent on the South Jersey shore; always an abiding love of ocean and seashore.

Doris was independent from the start and was in the vanguard of the women's liberation movement. As a young woman she moved to Philadelphia, alone, to start her career.  She spent a post-WW2 year in Norway where she learned to speak Norwegian and met and established lifelong family connections. There and in England she studied post-war housing patterns, later working at the Philadelphia Housing Authority where she met her husband Kenneth Allebach who she married in 1954. A family and career in architecture ensued with a move to White Plains, NY where Doris worked for Gibbons, Heidtmann and Salvador as an interior designer, on 20-plus New York City metro area public libraries.

Following White Plains were moves to Philadelphia, Tucson, AZ and then finally to the Quaker-inspired Medford Leas retirement community in Medford NJ, where her parents also lived and died.

Doris loved to shop and could tirelessly look in gift shops all day, maybe without buying a thing! She loved the Navajo jewelry roadside stands in northern Arizona and a jaunt shopping down Fourth Avenue in Tucson after a lunch at Delectables was just tops.

Doris' father was a DuPont chemist and her family avoided hard times during the Great Depression. She came of age in the post WW2 economic boom where husband Ken's GI Bill and GI Mortgage set the stage for a middle-class success story without material suffering for her. Doris's life was bracketed by the peak years of US civilization.

Doris played the piano and with husband Ken on recorder, enriched family life with music. Bach's Air on the G String was played at her wedding, at Ken's memorial and for Doris on her last day. From his parents, son Fred received a lifelong gift of music, and of ongoing interests and education.

Doris lived independently until age 92, and she always had a project. In Sept. of 2018 she entered assisted living at Medford Leas and then in Sept. of 2021 entered memory care at Medford Leas. Doris died peacefully under great and compassionate care.

Doris is predeceased by her husband Kenneth Allebach, brother Robert Johnson, sister Bernice Johnson and parents Alfred and Martha Johnson. She is survived by son Fred Allebach and his spouse Kim D. Bartlett. From her generation, Doris is survived by sisters in law Jean Johnson and Nancy Allebach.

A memorial service will be organized by Zoom at a later date. Remembrance can be made by donation to the American Friends Service Committee in her name.