Read Doris Pully Corcoran's Obituary & Leave Condolences

In memory of

Doris Pully Corcoran

Hilton Head Island, SC, USA

June 9, 1931 - January 17, 2019

Jun 9, 1931 - Jan 17, 2019

Help keep everyone in the know by sharing this memorial website.

Share

Photo

Dr Doris Hazel Pully Corcoran

Doris Pully Corcoran, 87, passed away peacefully at home in Hilton Head, South Carolina, January 17, 2019 at
6:30 PM with her husband at her side.

Born: June 9, 1931

Died: January 17 2019 at 6:30 PM EST

Born in Bridgeport Connecticut, the daughter of Mabel Plum Pully and Wayne (Vanio) Pully. Her father was born in Helsinki, Finland - later moved to Sandy Hook, Connecticut while her mother was from the first Finnish generation born in the US.

Children:
Dr Cheryl Corcoran Citron
Pamela Corcoran Reed
Marcia Justine Corcoran
Nelson Robert Corcoran
Dr Timothy Sumner Corcoran

She has 10 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

Siblings (deceased):
Ruth P Summers of Harwinton Connecticut
Joan Goodyear of Wooster Massacusetts
Thomas Pully of Bridgeport, Connecticut
Wayne James Pully of Sanford, Florida

Doris Corcoran was predeceased by her parents, and by her two sisters, Ruth and Joan and her two brothers,
James and Thomas. She is survived by her husband Nelson Charles Corcoran Jr.

At her father's urging Doris attended the University of Connecticut and graduated in 1959 as a University Scholar with High Honors. She received a $200 foundation award from the College of Pharmacy. After having five children Doris went to Yale University to obtain a PhD in Physical Chemistry. While at Yale Doris had to complete one of the toughest academic programs in the world while taking care of five children - a responsibility she did not shirk. She worked endless 20 hour days during this time and never failed to take care of her young children regardless of how fatigued she was. She typically spent several hours a night tutoring her children.

Doris unselfishly supported her family and contributed whatever was needed to help her children achieve their goals despite the financial perils for herself.

Doris did her post-Doc work at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut. She worked as a research scientist there for seven years.

Doris was a scientist at heart, she wanted to be a physician, but at the time this avenue was not open to her as a woman, so she went to school for Physical Chemistry. Since she ended up working in the field of Biochemistry and research in the area of Diabetes, she came close to that dream as well.

Doris was Professor of Biochemisty at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Doris contributed to work in Protein Sequence Analysis. She authored papers including "Isolation and Structure of a Cross-Linked Bone Coilagen" "The Primary Structure of the Nonpolar Segment of Bovine Cytochrome b5" and others listed below in the field of Biochemisty and advised on a number of experiments. At USUHS she was on the dissertation advisory committee. She contributed to "Methods in Enzymology". She is cited in numerous papers in the field of Biochemistry which are too numerous to list. She was an expert in sequencing amino acids in proteins. She taught Biochmistry to hundreds of medical students at USUHS.

She married Nelson Charles Corcoran Jr at the Newtown Congregational Church in Newtown, Connecticut on June 16, 1951. They were married for 67 years. Doris and Nelson attended the Middlebury Congregational Church in Middlebury, Connecticut frequently. They moved to Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Nelson became Vice President of the Waterbury Rolling Mills. In 1956 they built a home in Middlebury,Connecticut where they resided until 1977. Doris and Nelson attended the Middlebury Congregational Church in Middlebury, Connecticut.Then they moved to Reston, Virginia where she began research and teaching in Biochemistry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Behesda. They later moved to Bliss Lane in Great Falls, Virginia.

Doris retired in 2001 and they moved to Misty Morning Drive in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Doris loved to read, having several thousand books in her collection. Gardening was another passion; she was able to identify hundreds of plants and trees by its exact botanical name and grew a huge variety of roses and other plants. Her homes are extensively planted with flowering trees and bushes. She was interested in architecture as well and did extensive home renovation work - some skills she learned from her father who was home builder. In Hilton Head she loved to feed the merganser ducks behind their home. She was always building for the future and had a wonderfully optimistic and charitable personality.

Doris had an impact in this world in science and in beauty, and her memory will be carried in the hearts of those who love her. She had a profound influence on her children and those around her.

Partial List of Published Scientific Papers:

Purification and Properties of Rat Liver Microsomal Stearyl Coenzyme A Desaturase, November 1974

The primary structure of the nonpolar segment of bovine cytochrome b5, August 1978

Purification of cytochrome b5, 1978

Isolation and structure of a cross linked tripeptide from calf bone collagen, 1975

Isoforms of turkey prolactin: evidence for differences in glycosylation and in tryptic peptide mapping, 1991

Localization of a cross-link donor site in the α-chain of human fibrin

Tryptic Conversion of Cytochrome b5 Reductase to an Active Derivative Containing Two Peptide Chains, May 1972

Turkey Prolactin: Purification by Isotachophoresis and Partial Characterization, September 1981

PhD Dissertation Yale University 1968 Doris Pulley Corcoran:

I. Diffusion of lithium chloride and sodium chloride in methanol-water solutions

II. Heats of Mixing in the System Cyclohexane-Benzene-Carbon Tetrachloride

Acknowledgement:

To my loving husband and children, mother, mother-in-law and father-in-law who all helped to make this
possible and to my dear father to whom this would have brought the greatest happiness.

Get notified when new photos, stories and other important updates are shared.