Doris Wenger

MALDEN-ON-HUDSON….Doris Yager Wenger passed away peacefully on May 4, 2021 to a well-deserved Eternal Rest, after a long life devoted to Christian service and compassion to others, always putting them ahead of her own needs.

Born on April 8, 1925, she was the daughter of the late Clarence and Edna Coons Yager.   Mrs. Wenger grew up on a fruit farm in Germantown, NY where early on, she learned the value of hard work, having at an early age, to help pick fruit at her family’s fruit orchard and also helping to harvest fruit at neighboring farms. Growing up during the hard times of the Great Depression left her with a concern for the wellbeing of her fellow man and woman that never waned.

Her good grades in school and natural vivacity led to her being crowned “Columbia County Apple Blossom Queen” in the early 1940s. She worked for Chance Vought Aircraft as it churned out thousands of planes during the World War II effort.  Eventually she settled on a career as an X-ray and Laboratory technician and accepted a job in a doctor’s office in her hometown of Germantown. It was there she met the love of her life, Richard B. Wenger, MD, who came to work for her employer, an older physician who had recently suffered a heart attack.

Dr. and Mrs. Wenger married in 1951 and due to the arrangement with the older physician, Dr. Wenger had agreed to set up his own practice within at least a 20 mile radius from Germantown. They settled on Saugerties, where they lived busily, and happily, for 55 years together until Dr. Wenger’s death in 2006. It was there in Malden, where she met her lifelong friend, Agnes Alecca, who was as devoted to her as a daughter.

Mrs. Wenger was an ideal help-mate in her husband’s busy medical practice, doing the bookkeeping, billing and answering phone calls and was as devoted to a life of service to the community as her husband. Many a time, before cellphones and instant communications were the norm, did she pace the floor trying to locate him as he traveled to house calls, because someone was in urgent need of medical care.  She accepted that dinners might have to be kept warmed, and vacations might have to be cut short or cancelled, because of their shared duty to serving the medical practice 24/7.

Mrs. Wenger was an avid gardener and many who lived nearby have said they will always think of her when they see the blooms of her favorite flower, irises, which she diligently divided and gave out to her friends for replanting.  She was keenly interested in conversation and politics, yet had a unique ability to welcome and enjoy discourse with others who had different opinions.  Even up to her 96th year, she was seen at Ten Broeck Commons Nursing Center, with her New York Times in hand.

She was always willing to offer car rides or homemade meals to those who were sick or elderly or just in need.  She gave to many charities and when possible, she would quietly pay an outstanding bill for someone who didn’t have the funds to cover their food or household power costs. That compassion extended to four-legged friends; her love of animals had no bounds, and steady stream of “strays” came up to her back door for a food handout.

Mrs. Wenger is survived by her daughter, Mary Beth Wenger.  She was predeceased by two sisters: Esther Paolotti and Winifred Collyer.   Her Funeral Service will be held 6:00 PM Saturday at the Seamon-Wilsey Funeral Home, Inc. Cor. Of John & Lafayette Sts., Saugerties.   Friends will be received Saturday from 4:00-6:00 PM.  Face coverings and social distancing rules to be observed.  Burial will be held privately in the Mt. View Cemetery.    Family suggests donations in her memory be made to the Catskill Animal Sanctuary 316 Old Stage Rd, Saugerties, NY or the Marie Post Animal Emergency Fund, 93 Manorville Road, Saugerties, NY  12477.   Further obituary information and expressions of condolence may be shared with the family on her Tribute Wall @SeamonWilseyFuneralHome.com

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