It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Charlene Doll Zurkan. Her spirit peacefully left this world on February 19th surrounded by her family.
Born on January 13th, 1957 to Charles Kirk Doll and Dorothy Burdette Doll at University Hospital in Baltimore City, Md; Charlene was the 4th of the 5 Doll children. “Charlie Brown” as her father affectionately referred to her, would spend her childhood in and around southern PA and northern MD, ultimately settling in Phoenix, MD before graduating from Hereford Junior-Senior High School on June 3rd, 1975. In December of 1974, being the rascal that she was; Charlene agreed to a blind date that led her to the love of her life, Nicholas T. Zurkan. Joining in marriage on May 21, 1977, at St. John’s Church in Hydes, Md, they would spend the next 47 years together enriching the world with love and laughter. For richer or poorer, in good health and bad; Charlene and Nick were the full embodiment of husband and wife. They were blessed with two sons. Joshua Matthew was born September 5, 1979, the first grandchild for both sides of the family. Not content with the amount of chaos one child brings, they were joined by another son, Nicholas Alexander on April 23, 1984.
With her family made whole, Charlene would earn her title of “Mama Bear”. Everyone that came through her door was treated as her own. Her boys certainly didn’t make it easy on her, dragging home stray pets for her to feed and care for, stray friends for her to feed and tend to, and never coming clean about their dastardly deeds until trouble showed up at their doorstep. Charlene was a fixture on the sideline any time her boys had a game. She often joked she lived in a locker room but she wouldn’t have it any other way! Her voice, an unmistakable presence; barking instructions and calling out plays and player tendencies before any coach had noticed. This continued with all 3 of her granddaughters as well.
Charlene and Nick enjoyed traveling, together they made several trips to tropical beaches in the Caribbean. Charlene enjoyed nothing better than having her toes in the sand and a drink in her hand! Purchasing a timeshare in Massanutten in 1978, they spread their love of the sleepy mountain resort to their sons and to their families which remains to this day. Sadly, she takes with her the finest crab pickin’ hands in MD as well as the recipe for the best cream of crab soup this world has seen. Charlene had a close circle of friends and they liked nothing more than sitting down to enjoy each other’s company over a competitive game of Pitch, with the occasional vulgarity uttered. In her later years, as travel became tougher, you could find her lounging in the backyard pool, soaking up the sunshine!
As with her talents for artistry and calligraphy, Charlene was an accomplished ballroom dancer and instructor at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Joppa, Md. Due to a back injury sustained during a dance competition, she had to retire from her instructor position and withdraw from competitive dancing. In her later career, her dependability and trustworthiness would see her rise through the ranks as payroll administrator to Head of Human Resources; always accumulating exemplary performance reviews and being recognized as the Employee of the Year by more than one organization.
Charlene was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Dorothy, as well as her oldest sister, Linda. She is survived by her loving and devoted husband, Nicholas. Her first born son Joshua, and his wife, Andrea, who blessed her with three granddaughters, Alexis (grandmom’s DoodleBug), Isabella and Jasmine. She loved nothing more than to watch her granddaughters play and grow. She is also survived by her second child, Nicholas and his wife, Lindsey. She is survived by her brothers, Lawrence Doll of Arlington, VA and Jeffrey Doll of Quarryville, PA as well as her sister Laura Parsons of Miami, FL.
Public services will be held at Brinsfield Funeral Home located at 30195 Three Notch Road Charlotte Hall, Md 20659 on Friday, February 28th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm with the service beginning at 7:00 pm.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.brinsfieldfuneral.com.
Arrangements by Brinsfield Funeral Home & Crematory, P.A., Charlotte Hall, MD.