Teacher touched lives through music
When friends gather for the memorial service, harp music will play, but it won't be Elizabeth Dorris gently strumming the strings.
Dorris, of Palatine, an accomplished harpist and teacher of thousands, died Aug. 29 after a valiant fight with cancer. She was 80.
Born in downstate Harrisburg to Permelia and Harry Dorris, Miss Dorris turned to music at an early age.
"She lived for music; she was always that way," recalls her younger sister Judy Lockwood. "When she was little she wanted a harp and our dad thought it was a passing fancy."
Upon moving to Palatine in the mid-1950s to teach with Palatine Community School District 15, Miss Dorris performed with classical groups around the area and, more recently, at the Presbyterian Church of Palatine where she was a member.
After her retirement from District 15 in 1990 she continued to teach harp and piano lessons in her home and maintained relationships with many former students until the time of her death.
Her modest home was like a music store where she encouraged all visitors to pluck the strings of her grand harp, squeeze an accordion, beat a bongo or shake a tambourine. She presented student recitals at a local church and often asked her sister Judy, or niece Patty Spaeth, to join her on stage when they came to town.
"We would play duets together and she would get going so fast that I couldn't keep up," Lockwood said. "She wanted people to know that you're never too old to enjoy music."
Miss Dorris had a warm smile and casual style that resonated with children. In her 35 years with District 15 she taught elementary and special education classes. For her 50th birthday in 1978, she had a circus tent erected in her front yard and invited current and former students to celebrate with her.
Edith Elliott was one of those young special needs children who remembers the clowns. Her parents, Amanda and Charles Elliott, of Arlington Heights, kept in touch with Miss Dorris over the decades, accompanying her to appointments and visiting her during her convalescence.
"She had an obvious love of the children. It was a very natural way about her; nothing put on," Amanda Elliot said. "She always wanted what's best for the children."
In her retirement Miss Dorris also knitted and crocheted infant caps for local hospitals, took computer classes, enjoyed evenings in Chicago at the symphony and looked out for the birds and squirrels in her Palatine neighborhood, supplying them daily with feed and keeping her gardens a haven for local wildlife.
Former students, friends and neighbors are invited to celebrate her life at a memorial service at 4 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Presbyterian Church of Palatine, 800 E. Palatine Road, Palatine.