GLOUCESTER: Doris Brunell Lundberg, wife, mother, nurse and community volunteer, died peacefully at home on Thursday, October 27, 2011, of natural causes.
Doris was born in Chicago, IL, in 1922, daughter of Arthur and Margaret Brunell, both Chicago natives. A self-described “tomboy,” as a young girl Doris liked to bring home stray dogs, ride horses and play ball with the neighborhood boys. Her father taught her how to drive the family car and shoot a gun – but more important, he taught her about equality and human dignity. As a young adult, Doris took flying lessons and learned to pilot a plane. The second of four children, she was devoted to her family her entire life and made many trips back to Chicago with her own children.
Doris attended Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, and received her RN from the Augustana Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago. She worked for the Chicago Department of Public Health, where she did neonatal home visits to new mothers who couldn’t afford to see a doctor or weren’t able to get to the city-run clinics. She served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in World War II and worked as a charge nurse and supervisor at Hartford Hospital, where she met her great love and husband of 58 years, Dr. Robert N. Lundberg, who predeceased her in 2008.
Doris moved with her husband back to his hometown of Gloucester in 1951 – a big change for the city girl. She had five children in seven years (as she liked to tell people), endearing herself quickly to her new mother-in-law, Bett Lundberg, who loved being a grandmother.
A committed volunteer, Doris worked for many years at the coffee shop at Addison Gilbert Hospital, the Sawyer Free and Annisquam Village libraries, the Red Cross Blood Bank, and served as part of the Vestry and Alter Guild at St. John’s Episcopal Church, where she also taught Sunday School and sang in the choir. She taught her children that the surest path to happiness was to serve others.
Doris appreciated the simple pleasures and the life of the mind. She had a deep faith in God and loved music, art and literature. She was an avid reader, a trait she passed on to her children and many of their friends by reading to them before and after school – and a lifelong member of a book club. She enjoyed knitting, providing family and friends with many beautiful sweaters and afghans. She played tennis and in the summer loved to swim in Lobster Cove. An enthusiastic card player, she continued her nightly games of “Spite & Malice” with her husband and, after his passing, with her children until shortly before her death.
In her later years, Doris could often be seen walking on the Annisquam bridge, where she spent moments of quiet reflection looking to the church at the head of the cove. Her monthly lunches with friends and evening dinners with her children brought her much joy. By her example, she taught her family the importance of being present in the moment and meeting life with appreciation and gratitude. She will be remembered for her style, her sense of humor, and her grace.
She is survived by her children, Paul Lundberg and his wife Christine, Mark Lundberg and his wife Andrea, Margaret Lundberg Stevens and her husband Bradford, Matthew Lundberg and his wife Rosemary, Abbie Lundberg and her husband Tony Gross; grandchildren, Anne Barker; Stephanie, Taylor and Mason Lundberg; Rebecca, Abby and Brit Stevens; Peter, Patrick and Casey Lundberg; Alex and Lucy Gross; two brothers, Michael Brunell, Robert Brunell and his wife Annabelle and their children, Beth, Ben and Gail Brunell; and her beloved sister, Pat’s children, Steve Comstock, his wife Kitty and their son Marc, Nancy Comstock and her husband Roy Hurst.
A memorial service will be held at the Annisquam Village Church, 820 Washington Street, Gloucester on November 12, 2011, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Hospice of the North Shore, 75 Sylvan St., Suite B-102, Danvers, MA 01923 or the Sawyer Free Library, 2 Dale Ave., Gloucester, MA 01930.