IN MEMORIAM: Worcester’s Doris Rock, 79;
Nurse Ran Paul’s Restaurant With Husband
WORCESTER – Worcester native Doris M. Rock, 79, a nurse and for many years co-proprietor of a local restaurant with her husband, passed away at Holy Redeemer Hospice, Meadowbrook, Pa., on Dec. 30, 2016, surrounded by her family.
Doris was born on July 13, 1937, to George and Beatrice (Wilsey) Rock in Worcester.
She married Paul Gasbara in 1958 and is survived by their three children; Paula (Houghtaling) of Horsham, Pa; Dr. Mark Gasbara of Sandy Spring, Md.; and Steven Gasbara and wife Valerie of Collegeville, Pa; eight grandchildren; two great-granddaughters and brother, Arnold Rock of Worcester.
Doris worked as a maternity nurse in Memorial Hospital in Albany early in her career. In 1969, she and Paul opened Paul’s Restaurant in Worcester. In later years, she returned to nursing at Fox Hospital in Oneonta.
When she was close to retirement, she moved to Limerick, Pa., to be closer to her children; however, retirement was not an option for Doris. Most recently, she worked with handicapped children riding alongside them on the buses they took to their schools for Easter Seals. She was always a very committed and hard worker no matter what she was doing and lived her life with dignity and grace.
Her one wish was to still be working at 80 years old. She lived independently even after her diagnosis in August and maintained a beautiful home with flower gardens and even mowed her own lawn. She was a great cook and baker… her Thanksgiving stuffing and cheesecake will be sorely missed.
In later life, she enjoyed traveling and got to fulfill a dream of visiting Alaska. Doris was a wonderful mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend and will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.
A memorial of Doris’s life will be at 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017, at the Heller & Skinner Funeral Home, Worcester, with the Rev. Daniel Martin, officiating. A memorial will also be held at the Village of Willow Run in Royersford, Pa., at a later date.
Online condolences may be sent to, www.hellerskinnerfh.com