Doris Joan Stan, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully at her home in Fairfield on July 20, 2024, after a long illness.

Born in Jersey City, NJ, to James A. Franey and Margaret (Gilmartin) Franey on November 12, 1933, Doris was the second of five children. The family moved to Fair Lawn, NJ, and that is where Doris spent much of her youth.

After graduating from Fair Lawn High School in 1950, Doris graduated from the Katherine Gibbs School in New York City, setting the stage for her first career as an executive secretary. At the age of 19, she was hired to work for an executive at the Shell Oil Foundation in Rockefeller Center.

While rollerskating with friends one day in 1952, Doris met Allan Stan and sparks flew. A planned summer wedding had to be quickly rescheduled to April 24, 1954, due to Al’s induction into the US Army.

While raising their family, Doris and Al moved from Jersey City to Carteret and then to Clark, NJ. At age 40 and as a mother of five, Doris enrolled in college, attending classes at Kean College during nights and weekends. She received her Bachelor’s degree in 1976.

That same year, the family settled in Fairfield. Doris went to work in the provost’s office at Fairfield University while also taking graduate school classes at night. In 1982, she earned her Master’s degree from Fairfield University.

Doris had a long career at the university, retiring in 2004 as the Director of Grants and Sponsored Programs. Through her work securing funding from both federal and state governments and from private foundations, Doris was instrumental in the expansion of the university through the 1980s and ‘90s. She was very proud of her work for the university.

Doris and Al shared a love of traveling. Their adventures began when Doris would accompany Al on business trips to Mexico or British Columbia. Before long, they were touring the world together. Their travels took them to sites all around Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, Scandinavia, and South America. In later years, they transitioned to cruising and spent many vacations aboard ships in the Mediterranean or Caribbean.

Doris is survived by her children: Adele M. Stan of Washington, D.C.; Gregory A. Stan of Norwalk; Christopher Stan and his wife, Lena Tan, and their children, Clark and Dillon, of West Hartford; and Timothy Stan and his wife, Julie Stan, and their children, Katherine and Elijah, of Newtown.

Doris was predeceased by Allan in 2020, infant son Joseph in 1963, and her son Michael Stan in 2014.

She is survived by Michael’s widow, Carol Stan, of Holden, MA, along with their children: Phillip Stan and his wife, Jennifer Stan, of Holden, MA; Megan Stan of Charlton, MA; and Kevin Stan of Holden, MA; as well as 8 great-grandchildren and many loving nieces and nephews.

Friends may call on Friday, August 2, from 5 to 8 pm, at Frank Polke & Son Funeral Home, 39 South Benson Road in Fairfield. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 am Saturday, August 3, at St. Anthony of Padua RC Church in Fairfield. Flowers are welcome, or memorial donations may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research or Fairfield Professional Fire Fighters Benevolent Fund.