On Sunday, January 24, 2016, Doris Njeri Ngaruiya passed on after a courageous battle with leukemia. Doris was 62 years old. Doris was born in Nairobi, Kenya’s Kaloleni Estate to Beth Thanji Ngaruiya and the late James Anderson Ngaruiya. As a young woman, Doris attended the Limuru Girls School, of which she often spoke fondly. She went on to study nursing at Nairobi Hospital, continuing on to work there and then Gertrude’s Children’s Home for a number of years, before transitioning to a broader public health nursing role where she was involved in local and international efforts focused on dental health and dental disease. In 1995, she and her son transitioned to the United States, where they settled in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She continued her career in nursing at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, where she worked devotedly until 2013.
Doris is fondly remembered as a loving, generous, selfless, and funny woman, who loved life, loved her son, and loved her family. She was fashionable and stylish, always leaving the house looking her best. She had an uncanny ability to come up with nicknames for people and phrases of her own creation that family and friends often adopted in daily conversation. Doris also loved keeping up with the latest in politics and pop culture, and she was an avid Andrea Bocelli fan. Weekends will not be the same without Meet the Press blaring on the television, followed by an afternoon filled with Andrea Bocelli’s music playing throughout her home. Above all, Doris had an inner strength, one she never thought she had, that helped her take things in stride and overcome obstacles during the very challenging period in her life when she battled leukemia. With God’s grace and tender mercies, she endured with a positive and optimistic outlook.
She is survived by her beloved son Andy and daughter-in-law Jamie; her sister Gladys and her brothers, David, Frank, Fred, and Tim; her sisters-in-law Kanini, Gashiru, and Yvonne; her nieces Tebello, Mariane, Nthanze, Njeri, Nyambura, and Nthanze, and her nephews David Jr., Kevin and James.
Although she is gone from this world, her spirit and legacy will live on through her son, her family, and those who she knew and loved.
The body is lying atat DeVol Funeral Home in Gaithersburg, MD. The funeral will be held in Ridgeways, Kiambu Kenya.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Doris N. Ngaruiya Memorial Tribute to help others in their battle with cancer, which can be accessed at https://www.youcaring.com/DorisNgaruiya
Donations can also be made via MPESA or Wave to +254792196792 to Tim Njonjo
