Earl A. Doan, Jr.

Earl Amos Doan, Jr. passed away peacefully on March 9, 2023, at Chester County Hospital in West Chester. Mr. Doan was a lifetime resident of the Coatesville area, his ancestors having arrived in Plymouth and also with William Penn. He was born on South 8th Avenue according a newspaper article in the Coatesville Record announcing a “new little mechanic born to Earl A. Doan, Sr. and Lillie May (Nealis) Doan.” Shortly after birth the family removed to West Caln Township to the present day Hibernia County Park. Here Earl spent his formative years experiencing nature and the one room schoolhouse system. His love of fishing and hunting were perfected in this beau colic setting. Around the age of eight he had a chance meeting of a young farm girl at the trout hatchery- she would become his wife years later. During his teenage years his family moved throughout the Coatesville area to finally settle in Parkesburg where that little farm girl had resettled too. He spent several weeks during the summer of 1945 in New York City with his brother-in-law learning the photography at the Manhattan School of Photography. This same brother-in-law afforded him the opportunity to spend the summers on the Chesapeake at Havre de Grace. In January of 1946 he married that little farm girl, Dorothy Mendenhall and started a family. They would share just shy of 71 years together. In 1954 the family moved to Ercildoun into a small house that grew with the family- Earl having added five rooms to the original four with his own hammer and nails. He spent his early married life as a truck driver, hauling eggs and bread until settling on a career with the Lukens Steel Company where he worked for 35 years. He served many terms as an East Fallowfield township supervisor, a Justice of the Peace, and church lay leader at the Parkesburg United Methodist church. His hobbies included; hunting, fishing, gunsmithing, carpentry, bricklaying, creating and maintaining an orchard, reading and beekeeping. Traveling with his family was a great joy also-visiting over 40 states and the United Kingdom and Ireland. Finally in 2019 he realized a dream of seeing Denali on a clear day- it took two visits to Alaska to do so. In his latter years he and his wife moved in with their daughter and son-in-law on the north end of Ercildoun. Earl was a member of the Skerrett Masonic Lodge #343 of Cochranville and a Past Master of Brandywine-Goddard Lodge #383 of Coatesville. He is preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy and daughter Judith Ann. He is survived by one sister Dorothy Troutman of Marlton, New Jersey; a son Randy E. and Bridget (Montoro) Doan of Towerville and a daughter Lisa G.

Doan-Harley and Robert Harley of Ercildoun. Six grandchildren; Robert G. Harley, Jr. (Elizabeth) of Carthage, North Carolina, Thomas P. Harley (Shannon) of Tucson, Arizona, Patricia Yoder (Andrew) of East Fallowfield, Earl Amos Doan, III stationed in Crete, Randy E. Doan, Jr. (Stacie) of Lancaster and “grandson” Evan Scheuer of Denver, Colorado. Ten great-grandchildren; Timothy Michner-Harley, Matthew Harley and Robert G. Harley, III, of Lancaster, Cora Yoder and Lana Yoder of East Fallowfield, Kyle Doan of Gulf Port, Mississippi, Marilaura Harley, Ayden Harley and Cadence Harley off of Carthage, North Carolina and a k-9 companion “Buddy” of Ercildoun. 

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 2:00 PM at the Wilde Funeral Home, 434 Main St. Parkesburg, PA. Family and friends are also invited to attend the viewing and visitation from 1:00 to 2:00 PM with Masonic services beginning at 2:00 PM. Interment will follow at a later date at the Upper Octorara Cemetery, Parkesburg, PA. Memorial donations may be made in his memory to CHOP, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Online condolences can be posted at www.wildefuneralhome.com