Doris M. Drake, 87

Doris M. Drake, 87

Long-time Harlingen Resident

August 13, 1930 - February 16, 2018

Doris "Marion” Drake, age 87, of Harlingen, died peacefully at home on February 16, surrounded by her loving family.

Marion was born on August 13, 1930 in Princeton to Elise and Raymond Waag. She moved to Harlingen in 1950 to start and raise her family.

Marion lived a life full of family, friends, laughter, and fun and made the world brighter for all those who knew her. She met her future husband, Ted, at Princeton High School, where he was captain of the football team and she was a cheerleader. Marion graduated in 1948 and worked as a switchboard operator for the Education Testing Services (ETS) in Princeton. Soon after, she and Ted married and moved to the Drake home in Harlingen, where Marion became bookkeeper of her husband’s family business, Drake’s Plumbing & Heating, then operated by Ted and his father, Elmer, who had lived in Harlingen since birth.

Marion and Ted shared their home at 5 Maple Street with Ted’s parents, Elmer and Margetta. Son Doug Drake still operates Drake’s Plumbing & Heating in Harlingen, where he and his wife Jennifer have lived for years, continuing the generations of Drakes living and working there.

Marion and Ted are long-time parishioners of Harlingen Reformed Church, where Ted served as deacon and Marion was active with the ladies’ auxiliary. Marion loved cooking, shopping (jewelry!), traveling, country music, knitting, and entertaining friends and family in Harlingen, as well as at their beloved beach home in Long Beach Island. Marion always led the party — with a Manhattan in one hand and a delicious feast cooking in the kitchen. As recently as a few months ago, she gathered regularly with a group of dear friends to share lunch and play rounds of Rummikub. She adored her children and grandchildren and they her. The birth of Marion’s first great-grandchild expected this May, to parents Danny and Sydney, would ensure a family birthday celebration in all 12 months of the year. Dee Dee will be smiling down on that special occasion, and she will be deeply missed.

Marion was predeceased by her parents. She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Ted Drake; her sons, David Drake and his wife, Sarah, of Belle Mead; Gary Drake and his wife, Diana, of Pennington; and Doug Drake and his wife, Jennifer, of Harlingen; and her eight grandchildren: Katharine, Emily, Alexandra, Daniel, Sean, Julia, Kaylee, and Hunter.

Donations can be made in Marion’s memory to Harlingen Reformed Church at 2142 US Highway 206, Belle Mead, New Jersey 08502.