Service Announcements

Doris Counts Obituary -( February 6, 1938 – September 30,2022)

Doris Anne Henderson Counts of Fuquay-Varina, NC was born in Atlantic City, NJ, February 6, 1938, the daughter of the late John D. and Annie Lee Henderson. She entered eternal rest on Friday, September 30, 2022, at Atrium Health Mercy in Charlotte, N.C.

Doris as a young woman had a passion for learning. As a child, Doris was called “skinny teacher” by her classmates, whom she assisted in the classroom with her teachers. Doris graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1955 and she continued her education at Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte NC and graduated with honors in 1959 with a BA degree in Elementary Education.  As a student of JCSU, Doris joined Gamma Lambda Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and served as the 1957-58 Johnson C. Smith Homecoming Queen. Doris earned a master’s degree in Education from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio in 1978. She furthered her studies for the preliminary requirements for a Ph. D at the Ohio State University and in 1994 while she was in the preliminary Ph. D program at Ohio State, she helped build what became the preliminary remedial reading program at the university.

While attending Johnson C. Smith University, Doris met the love of her life, Herman L Counts Jr. and in 1959 Herman and Doris were married on the campus of their beloved alma mater. To this union three sons were born.

Doris began her teaching career in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System as a third-grade teacher at Lincoln Heights and Druid Hills Elementary Schools from 1960 to 1966.

Doris moved with her husband and two sons from Charlotte, NC in 1966 when her husband accepted the position as Purchasing Director at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. In 1966, Doris furthered her love for education continuing her teaching career at Lincoln Elementary / Middle School in the Newark School District in Newark, Ohio. She taught 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th grade. After obtaining her master’s degree, specializing in reading, she became the Title I Reading Resource teacher for the Newark School District in 1979 until she retired in 1996.

In 1970 she gave birth to her third son in Newark Ohio. Together they raised their family in in the Granville/ Newark Ohio area. They lived in the area for 53 years before moving to Fuquay- Varina NC in 2019 to be closer to family. She also moved her sister Shirley Jordan with them to NC.  Her sister, Shirley was not only her big sister, but her confident and friend. Not a day went by that they did not talk with each other even up until her last day.

Doris was a member of 2^nd Presbyterian Church in Newark, Ohio for over 30 years. She developed close friends in the area and colleagues of her husband while living in Ohio that lasted her a lifetime.

Doris loved her family and she loved to travel with her husband. She traveled often to Mexico, Canada and forty-eight of the fifty states in the United States. She loved all sports and attended professional football and baseball games often. However, her primary preference was always either attending in person or watching on TV the Ohio State Buckeyes football games.

In addition to her parents, Doris was predeceased by her husband, Herman L. Counts Jr. and her brother, Reverend Benjamin H. Henderson. Doris leaves blessed with wonderful memories of her three sons Herman L. Counts, III, (Deborah) of Cornelius, NC, Tyrone Counts, (Barbara) of Norcross, GA and John Counts Sr. (Jacqueline) of Fuquay-Varina, NC. and four grandchildren – Ki-Jana Counts of Atlanta, GA, John Counts Jr. of Apex, NC, Alistair Counts of Durham, NC and Kent Counts of Greenville, SC.,  her beloved sister, Shirley Jordan of Fuquay-Varina, NC and two sister -in-laws, Dorothy Counts Scoggins and Stephanie Counts of Charlotte, NC and several nephews, nieces, and numerous friends.

A private Memorial service with family and a few very close friends will be held Saturday, November 5, 2022, 11:00am -12 noon, celebrating the life of Doris Henderson Counts and husband, Herman L. Counts Jr., at Long & Son Mortuary Chapel, 2312 Beatties Ford. Road., Charlotte, NC 28216. MASKS ARE REQUIRED.