Doll remembered as easy-going, dedicated to 4th, 5th graders
By MARIE ROHDE
[email protected]
Over the course of 34 years, Tom Doll taught the fourth and fifth grade students at St. Mary's Catholic School in Hales Corners, WI with a smile and a gentle hand. To honor him, parents and students came togetherat the school Saturday morning for a prayer service and to create a "memory poster" for the popular teacher who filled his room with massive plants, a 40-gallon fish tank and easy laughter.
Doll died on Friday after having a heart attack. He was 55.
"The other teachers admired him," said Jeanne Siegenthaler, the school principal. "Whenever he entered the room, he brought a smile to everyone's face." At the prayer service, one student recalled a practical joke Doll had played, Siegenthaler said. "The student went to the front of the room to hand in a paper and Mr. Doll was standing behind one of his huge plants where he couldn't be seen," Siegenthaler said. "As the student was walking by, Mr. Doll reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder."
Service at 9 a.m. today
Counselors will be on hand today to help the grieving community. There will be a service at 9 a.m. for students, parents and alumni. Doll had been at the same school for so many years that he was teaching the children of some of his early students.
Doll was the product of a Catholic education. He attended St. Sebastian elementary school in Milwaukee, St. Francis de Sales Seminary Prep High School and Dominican College (Class of '73). St. Mary's was his first and only teaching job, said his wife, Melody, who teaches at St. Adalbert's School.
He loved teaching children to do word play, Melody Doll said, asking his students questions like "Why do we drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?" He also never took himself too seriously, she noted. "He went bald prematurely," she said. "So he got a 'bald man's hairbrush' - one without bristles."
Check-up goes fine
Melody Doll said her husband had gone in for a medical checkup about 10 days ago and was pronounced well except for a cold.
Friday night, the Dolls had gone out to dinner to celebrate their oldest son's birthday. Tom Doll had the heart attack as the family was returning home.
On the school's Web page, Doll noted that academic progress is not always the best gauge of how a teacher is doing. Rather, it is in "the openness, trust and respect developed with your class," he wrote.
Siegenthaler said one of the most moving comments she had heard about Doll was from a mother who said she spoke with him hours before his death. She told him that her daughter had described him as the best teacher she had ever had, a comment that brought a tear to Doll's eye, Siegenthaler said.
In addition to his wife, Doll is survived by two sons, Christopher and Nicholas, and his mother, Edith Doll.
Services will be Wednesday at St. Rafael the Archangel at S. 33rd and W. Becher streets, Milwaukee. Visitation will be from 2 until 4 pm, followed by a funeral Mass.
Published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Oct. 30, 2006.
======
The following was published online: Thomas C. Doll, St. Francis DeSales Seminary H.S., Class of '69
Fri., October 27, 2006, age 55 years. Beloved husband of Melody (nee Pfefferkorn). Dear father of Christopher and Nicholas. Son of Ethel (sic) and the late Willard Doll. Brother of Bill (Jeanne), Tim (Patti) and Mickey (Correen). Son-in-law of Earl (Betty Jane) Pfefferkorn. Brother-in-law of Earle (Linnea) Pfefferkorn. Further survived by other relatives and friends, and 33 years of beloved students. Visitation Wed., Nov 1, after 2 PM at St. Rafael the Archangel Church, 2059 S. 33rd St. (S. 33rd and W. Becher St.) with Mass of Christian Burial at 4PM. Private entombment Forest Home Cemetery. JANSSEN-MOLENDA Family Funeral Home & Cremations Yvonna M. Rosa-Collins Associate Serving the Family 414-645-1200
By MARIE ROHDE
[email protected]
Over the course of 34 years, Tom Doll taught the fourth and fifth grade students at St. Mary's Catholic School in Hales Corners, WI with a smile and a gentle hand. To honor him, parents and students came togetherat the school Saturday morning for a prayer service and to create a "memory poster" for the popular teacher who filled his room with massive plants, a 40-gallon fish tank and easy laughter.
Doll died on Friday after having a heart attack. He was 55.
"The other teachers admired him," said Jeanne Siegenthaler, the school principal. "Whenever he entered the room, he brought a smile to everyone's face." At the prayer service, one student recalled a practical joke Doll had played, Siegenthaler said. "The student went to the front of the room to hand in a paper and Mr. Doll was standing behind one of his huge plants where he couldn't be seen," Siegenthaler said. "As the student was walking by, Mr. Doll reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder."
Service at 9 a.m. today
Counselors will be on hand today to help the grieving community. There will be a service at 9 a.m. for students, parents and alumni. Doll had been at the same school for so many years that he was teaching the children of some of his early students.
Doll was the product of a Catholic education. He attended St. Sebastian elementary school in Milwaukee, St. Francis de Sales Seminary Prep High School and Dominican College (Class of '73). St. Mary's was his first and only teaching job, said his wife, Melody, who teaches at St. Adalbert's School.
He loved teaching children to do word play, Melody Doll said, asking his students questions like "Why do we drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?" He also never took himself too seriously, she noted. "He went bald prematurely," she said. "So he got a 'bald man's hairbrush' - one without bristles."
Check-up goes fine
Melody Doll said her husband had gone in for a medical checkup about 10 days ago and was pronounced well except for a cold.
Friday night, the Dolls had gone out to dinner to celebrate their oldest son's birthday. Tom Doll had the heart attack as the family was returning home.
On the school's Web page, Doll noted that academic progress is not always the best gauge of how a teacher is doing. Rather, it is in "the openness, trust and respect developed with your class," he wrote.
Siegenthaler said one of the most moving comments she had heard about Doll was from a mother who said she spoke with him hours before his death. She told him that her daughter had described him as the best teacher she had ever had, a comment that brought a tear to Doll's eye, Siegenthaler said.
In addition to his wife, Doll is survived by two sons, Christopher and Nicholas, and his mother, Edith Doll.
Services will be Wednesday at St. Rafael the Archangel at S. 33rd and W. Becher streets, Milwaukee. Visitation will be from 2 until 4 pm, followed by a funeral Mass.
Published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Oct. 30, 2006.
======
The following was published online: Thomas C. Doll, St. Francis DeSales Seminary H.S., Class of '69
Fri., October 27, 2006, age 55 years. Beloved husband of Melody (nee Pfefferkorn). Dear father of Christopher and Nicholas. Son of Ethel (sic) and the late Willard Doll. Brother of Bill (Jeanne), Tim (Patti) and Mickey (Correen). Son-in-law of Earl (Betty Jane) Pfefferkorn. Brother-in-law of Earle (Linnea) Pfefferkorn. Further survived by other relatives and friends, and 33 years of beloved students. Visitation Wed., Nov 1, after 2 PM at St. Rafael the Archangel Church, 2059 S. 33rd St. (S. 33rd and W. Becher St.) with Mass of Christian Burial at 4PM. Private entombment Forest Home Cemetery. JANSSEN-MOLENDA Family Funeral Home & Cremations Yvonna M. Rosa-Collins Associate Serving the Family 414-645-1200
Doll remembered as easy-going, dedicated to 4th, 5th graders
By MARIE ROHDE
[email protected]
Over the course of 34 years, Tom Doll taught the fourth and fifth grade students at St. Mary's Catholic School in Hales Corners, WI with a smile and a gentle hand. To honor him, parents and students came togetherat the school Saturday morning for a prayer service and to create a "memory poster" for the popular teacher who filled his room with massive plants, a 40-gallon fish tank and easy laughter.
Doll died on Friday after having a heart attack. He was 55.
"The other teachers admired him," said Jeanne Siegenthaler, the school principal. "Whenever he entered the room, he brought a smile to everyone's face." At the prayer service, one student recalled a practical joke Doll had played, Siegenthaler said. "The student went to the front of the room to hand in a paper and Mr. Doll was standing behind one of his huge plants where he couldn't be seen," Siegenthaler said. "As the student was walking by, Mr. Doll reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder."
Service at 9 a.m. today
Counselors will be on hand today to help the grieving community. There will be a service at 9 a.m. for students, parents and alumni. Doll had been at the same school for so many years that he was teaching the children of some of his early students.
Doll was the product of a Catholic education. He attended St. Sebastian elementary school in Milwaukee, St. Francis de Sales Seminary Prep High School and Dominican College (Class of '73). St. Mary's was his first and only teaching job, said his wife, Melody, who teaches at St. Adalbert's School.
He loved teaching children to do word play, Melody Doll said, asking his students questions like "Why do we drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?" He also never took himself too seriously, she noted. "He went bald prematurely," she said. "So he got a 'bald man's hairbrush' - one without bristles."
Check-up goes fine
Melody Doll said her husband had gone in for a medical checkup about 10 days ago and was pronounced well except for a cold.
Friday night, the Dolls had gone out to dinner to celebrate their oldest son's birthday. Tom Doll had the heart attack as the family was returning home.
On the school's Web page, Doll noted that academic progress is not always the best gauge of how a teacher is doing. Rather, it is in "the openness, trust and respect developed with your class," he wrote.
Siegenthaler said one of the most moving comments she had heard about Doll was from a mother who said she spoke with him hours before his death. She told him that her daughter had described him as the best teacher she had ever had, a comment that brought a tear to Doll's eye, Siegenthaler said.
In addition to his wife, Doll is survived by two sons, Christopher and Nicholas, and his mother, Edith Doll.
Services will be Wednesday at St. Rafael the Archangel at S. 33rd and W. Becher streets, Milwaukee. Visitation will be from 2 until 4 pm, followed by a funeral Mass.
Published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Oct. 30, 2006.
======
The following was published online: Thomas C. Doll, St. Francis DeSales Seminary H.S., Class of '69
Fri., October 27, 2006, age 55 years. Beloved husband of Melody (nee Pfefferkorn). Dear father of Christopher and Nicholas. Son of Ethel (sic) and the late Willard Doll. Brother of Bill (Jeanne), Tim (Patti) and Mickey (Correen). Son-in-law of Earl (Betty Jane) Pfefferkorn. Brother-in-law of Earle (Linnea) Pfefferkorn. Further survived by other relatives and friends, and 33 years of beloved students. Visitation Wed., Nov 1, after 2 PM at St. Rafael the Archangel Church, 2059 S. 33rd St. (S. 33rd and W. Becher St.) with Mass of Christian Burial at 4PM. Private entombment Forest Home Cemetery. JANSSEN-MOLENDA Family Funeral Home & Cremations Yvonna M. Rosa-Collins Associate Serving the Family 414-645-1200
By MARIE ROHDE
[email protected]
Over the course of 34 years, Tom Doll taught the fourth and fifth grade students at St. Mary's Catholic School in Hales Corners, WI with a smile and a gentle hand. To honor him, parents and students came togetherat the school Saturday morning for a prayer service and to create a "memory poster" for the popular teacher who filled his room with massive plants, a 40-gallon fish tank and easy laughter.
Doll died on Friday after having a heart attack. He was 55.
"The other teachers admired him," said Jeanne Siegenthaler, the school principal. "Whenever he entered the room, he brought a smile to everyone's face." At the prayer service, one student recalled a practical joke Doll had played, Siegenthaler said. "The student went to the front of the room to hand in a paper and Mr. Doll was standing behind one of his huge plants where he couldn't be seen," Siegenthaler said. "As the student was walking by, Mr. Doll reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder."
Service at 9 a.m. today
Counselors will be on hand today to help the grieving community. There will be a service at 9 a.m. for students, parents and alumni. Doll had been at the same school for so many years that he was teaching the children of some of his early students.
Doll was the product of a Catholic education. He attended St. Sebastian elementary school in Milwaukee, St. Francis de Sales Seminary Prep High School and Dominican College (Class of '73). St. Mary's was his first and only teaching job, said his wife, Melody, who teaches at St. Adalbert's School.
He loved teaching children to do word play, Melody Doll said, asking his students questions like "Why do we drive in a parkway and park in a driveway?" He also never took himself too seriously, she noted. "He went bald prematurely," she said. "So he got a 'bald man's hairbrush' - one without bristles."
Check-up goes fine
Melody Doll said her husband had gone in for a medical checkup about 10 days ago and was pronounced well except for a cold.
Friday night, the Dolls had gone out to dinner to celebrate their oldest son's birthday. Tom Doll had the heart attack as the family was returning home.
On the school's Web page, Doll noted that academic progress is not always the best gauge of how a teacher is doing. Rather, it is in "the openness, trust and respect developed with your class," he wrote.
Siegenthaler said one of the most moving comments she had heard about Doll was from a mother who said she spoke with him hours before his death. She told him that her daughter had described him as the best teacher she had ever had, a comment that brought a tear to Doll's eye, Siegenthaler said.
In addition to his wife, Doll is survived by two sons, Christopher and Nicholas, and his mother, Edith Doll.
Services will be Wednesday at St. Rafael the Archangel at S. 33rd and W. Becher streets, Milwaukee. Visitation will be from 2 until 4 pm, followed by a funeral Mass.
Published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Oct. 30, 2006.
======
The following was published online: Thomas C. Doll, St. Francis DeSales Seminary H.S., Class of '69
Fri., October 27, 2006, age 55 years. Beloved husband of Melody (nee Pfefferkorn). Dear father of Christopher and Nicholas. Son of Ethel (sic) and the late Willard Doll. Brother of Bill (Jeanne), Tim (Patti) and Mickey (Correen). Son-in-law of Earl (Betty Jane) Pfefferkorn. Brother-in-law of Earle (Linnea) Pfefferkorn. Further survived by other relatives and friends, and 33 years of beloved students. Visitation Wed., Nov 1, after 2 PM at St. Rafael the Archangel Church, 2059 S. 33rd St. (S. 33rd and W. Becher St.) with Mass of Christian Burial at 4PM. Private entombment Forest Home Cemetery. JANSSEN-MOLENDA Family Funeral Home & Cremations Yvonna M. Rosa-Collins Associate Serving the Family 414-645-1200
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