LACONIA ---- Doris B. Citron, 91, of The Taylor Community, passed after a period of declining health, on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
Whether raising her son Ben, being a grandmother to Nicolas and Lucas, or as loving mother-in-law and friend to Jitka, Doris combined joy, energy, love, intellect, and humor in all she did. She was a loyal friend whether teaching classes, caring for her clients, or being available to her friends.
She trained as a nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City 1950-1953. She earned two bachelor’s degrees, the first in nursing at Columbia University, Teachers College and the second in General Studies in Experimental Psychology. Her master’s degree was in Psychiatry and Mental Health from Columbia University Teacher’s College. One bachelors and her masters were on full scholarships. Later, after moving to New Hampshire, she earned her Doctorate of Education in Human Development from Boston University.
She had a long career in teaching, research, and psychotherapy — first as an instructor in Psychiatric Nursing at Jacobi Division, Albert Einstein Medical School, then as an Assistant Professor, Long Island University, Zeckendorf Campus. Later, she taught psychiatric courses at Brooklyn Hospital School of Nursing to students and instructors, and to medical assistant students at Flower Fifth Avenue Medical School in New York City. She was a professor at NHTI in Concord teaching psychiatry and mental health to associate degree nursing students. She also taught advanced courses in mental health at New England College in Henniker, NH, and wrote a series of 30 plus workshops which she delivered at colleges, hospitals, nursing homes, and businesses in New York City, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Florida.
While still in New York City at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center, she was the author and principal investigator for two research grants; one from the American Nurses Foundation; the other from the National Institute of Mental Health in Washington, D.C. After moving to New Hampshire, she had her own psychotherapy practice for 31 years.
Among Doris’s many interests was the theater. She trained and acted in theater with Abbott and Abrams Productions in the mid-50s in San Francisco; briefly in off-Broadway productions in NYC; then in the Streetcar Company in Laconia, NH for 11 years; and more recently she was part of the Winnipesaukee Playhouse. She sang in four choruses: the Pemigewasset Choral Society at Plymouth State University for 20 years; the NH Friendship Chorus where she travelled the world with singing groups and friends; the Lakes Region Singers in Gilford; and the ASPEC Chorus at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL. She also taught courses at ASPEC (Academy of Retired Professionals at Eckerd College) for many years.
Doris moved to the Taylor Community in June of 2009 and was pleased to live in a lovely duplex with a group of people who became friends. She was in exercise groups and yoga at Taylor and Tai Chi at the Gilford Library. She started a play-reading group with Jim Brewer and was part of the poetry group where she shared works, she admired and often wrote her own.
Doris leaves behind a son Ben Citron, daughter-in-law Jitka Citron, and two grandsons Nicolas and Lucas of San Francisco, CA; brother Martin Blackman, two nieces Ellen Gertel and Emily Blackman, one nephew Arthur Gertel of Princeton, New Jersey.
A Graveside Service will be held Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 11am at Union Cemetery in Laconia. Please use the Garfield Street entrance due to construction.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services/603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia, NH, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit wilkinsonbeane.com.