Michael Doran Photo by Deb Stevens.
Potomac — “May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and a smooth road all the way to your door.”
This Irish blessing was read in harmony by the more than 3,000 mourners who attended the memorial service for Dr. Michael Doran, principal of Wootton High School for 12 years. Doran died suddenly on Wednesday, Aug. 19, of natural causes at his Bethesda apartment. He was 64 years old, born in Ireland and fond of ending his speeches to the Wootton community with an Irish quotation.
Doran was much-loved by students, staff and parents. He was known as a caring educator who knew students by name, had an uncanny ability to remember their interests, enjoyed sharing their French fries and attending their soccer games, badminton club and football games — as well as the many other activities that his students participated in. He was a hands-on administrator who was highly regarded by the many teachers who worked for him at both Wootton and Pyle Middle School where he had previously been an administrator. His Irish sense of humor was quick and witty; he enjoyed attending principal’s meetings wearing shorts and a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops. He was a one-of-a-kind principal for this award-winning high school — and a mentor to many Montgomery County Public Schools administrators who modeled their leadership styles after Doran. He didn’t strive for Wootton to be a “good” school; he wanted it to be the “best.”
Doran, who grew up in Reading, England, graduated from the Battle Secondary Modern School and then from the University of Southampton in Hampshire, England. He moved to the United States in 1976 to marry his sweetheart Kathy Lavinder with “a suitcase in each hand and $50 in his pocket,” according to Father Phillip Ellsworth, Associate Rector of St. Francis Episcopal Church in Potomac which the Doran family has attended since 1988. Doran earned his Ph.D. in education at Columbia University in New York City and then moved to the mid-Atlantic. He was an employee of MCPS for 18 years. He is survived by his wife Kathy, children Samuel and Emma, and a brother, Ciaran Doran.
Doran taught Sunday school at St. Francis for many years and the family has always been active in the church. “Michael was what every saint is, a ‘life-giver.’ I always felt more alive whenever I was around his fiercely vital impish Irish spirit,” Ellsworth said. “He was at St. Francis and everywhere else a constant source of joy. After the Mass here Saturday, his colleagues, one after the other spoke of their deep admiration and love for him, and why wouldn’t they? Michael was a servant leader who was always finding a way to help others do good and grow, personally and professionally. He was a legend for helping student, faculty, church members and associates grow and advance. For all his achievements, he was humble to a fault; if anyone tried to praise him, they might as well have saved their breath: Michael would change the subject. Michael (‘Mick’, his Irish brother calls him) lived life abundantly as a man does who knows he’s loved. Given who loved him most and best — his Irish Anglican mother, his Irish Catholic father, his lovely wife Kathy and his children Sam and Emma, and first and last the God who raised Jesus from the dead — of course he was a true gem. St. Francis Episcopal Church as a community suffered a terrible blow in his death, but death isn’t the end of Michael any more than it was the end of the One who promised him a resurrection.”
Wootton Drama teacher Jessica Speck said, “The loss of Dr. Doran so suddenly and at this time has been very difficult. We are all still processing and working to move forward. For me and I would imagine, much of the community, Dr. Doran was Wootton High School. His joy, his spirit, was reflected in every endeavor inside and outside of the classroom. He was our biggest cheerleader and so engaged with the student body. If you were at the memorial last Friday, you heard many of the wonderful ways he interacted with students throughout each school day. His leadership was unsurpassed because he saw each of us, students and staff, as people first and he cared and loved us as such.”
Joey N. Jones, principal of Frost Middle School, said, “Dr. Doran was a great man, great principal and great friend. I will miss my friend and colleague, but his legacy will continue to live in the countless lives he touched.”