WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT — Doris Z. Foster, the beloved matriarch of her extended family, passed away peacefully in her sleep on January 7, 2022. To the very end, she was by the side of her loving husband, Edwin M. Foster, with whom she had celebrated their 68 ^th wedding anniversary just weeks earlier.

Born December 9, 1930, in Philadelphia, PA, Doris was the second of two children to David and Lillian Zeller. She was a first-generation college graduate of Danbury State Teachers College and taught elementary school until her first child was born.

Doris met Edwin, the love of her life, during their first year of college. They married December 20, 1953, in Stamford, Conn., and raised three children — Ed, Laurie and Tim — in Brookfield, Conn.

Edwin and Doris retired to Florida, eventually living down the street from one group of grandchildren, and traveled up the Eastern seaboard each summer to visit the rest of their grandchildren in Maryland and Vermont. They moved to Vermont in 2020 to be near a growing number of great-grandchildren.

Doris was known for her kindness, sense of humor, creative storytelling, fabulous cooking and relentlessly positive attitude. Better known as "Grammie" or "Who Who" to her nine grandchildren, she was, above all, devoted to family — in the most inclusive sense of the word. Her loving, mutually respectful relationship with Edwin served as a model to their entire family.

In addition to Edwin, Doris is survived by her three children and their partners, Ed Foster and Dennis Winstead; Laurie Foster and Michael Livingston; and Tim Foster and Trudy Foster. She is also survived by her grandchildren and their partners, Cadi and Michael McClary; Lauren and Daniel Lerian; Jared and Cassi Foster; Shayla Livingston and Paul Heintz; Ryan and Heidi Livingston; Zoe Livingston and Bobby Farrell; Bryn Foster; Timothy Foster; Marina Foster; and by her 13 great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Lund Foundation lundvt.org/give/