Carl L. Doran

Carl L. Doran, 93, of Cortland, NY, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, May 5, 2025, at his home.

Carl was born in Cortland, NY, on October 7, 1931, the son of the late James and Iva Perkins Doran.

He was a people person. Known locally as the “Clock Guy”, he was a clock hobbiest and was often hailed by someone who needed a clock fixed, or who was trying to line him up with a friend who needed a clock fixed. He never charged a customer, and made many long-time friends through his clock connections. He was long-time member of two clock clubs, and enjoyed the clock meets and getting together with fellow clock enthusiasts, wheeling and dealing, he and Clay coming home with as many or more clocks than they arrived with. After closing his Volkswagen shop, the Doran family moved from Cortland to the country. There, he, his wife of 72 years, and the kids enjoyed living a peaceful country life, including building their family home, gardening on a large scale, camping, hunting and fishing, driving to see the States, visiting, and a good dinner out. He preferred taking country back roads, so he could tell stories about all the places along the way.

Once they moved back to Cortland, he feigned aggravation at not being able to get anything done if he lifted the garage door, as someone was sure to notice him puttering and stop in to chat. Though he and his family had built their country home themselves, and he had worked his way up to head of maintenance at Cortland State college before retiring, he somehow never managed to use those skills to add air conditioning to the garage so he could keep the door closed and work undisturbed (wink). Folks interested in swapping stories learned to watch for his truck in the driveway; he missed lots of visitors once he started putting the truck in the garage and people didn't realize he was home!

In the spring, folks watched for indications a garage sale was imminent. In their younger years, the Dorans bought and sold antiques. As he aged, though he loved to go to auctions or buy out estates and wheel and deal, a sale's success was measured by how many visitors he got and how long they stayed, and whether they kept coming back year after year to swap stories. And how much of a traffic jam his sale had caused on sale day – more cars meant more folks to keep him busy.

He wasn't much for phone calls, preferring face to face contact and a long visit. He was a “Cheers” guy – preferring to go places where someone would call out his name when he came through the door. If you asked him what he'd been up to, you were likely to get the lowdown on someone's age, profession & how long they'd been doing it, when they'd moved to the area and where they'd hailed from, a history of the person's elders, and a rundown of the person's spouse, kids, their kids, and who had moved where and when, and how old they were when he first met them, before they grew up and moved away. It didn't matter who the subject was; anyone he'd seen that week would make for a good “history lesson” - it could have been his doctor or vet, a former coworker, a bank teller, a pharmacist, a new waitress, the ladies at the landfill, a former neighbor, a friend, or anyone else he'd met in some capacity. He had no desire to do business with people who were too busy to get to know one another.

He took pride in knowing people everywhere he went, and chuckled if anyone commented that it took forever to walk with him through a restaurant, or that their meal had gotten cold while someone stopped to chat right after their food had come to the table. If someone stopped in too close to lunch time, he was likely to invite them along to the restaurant, rather than cut the visit short. He enjoyed growing tall sun flowers, renovating homes, solving problems, helping people, and fixing anything for his family or other people, and sharing historical stories of life or the community from the old days.

Carl is survived by his son, Clayton, his faithful lap warmer Tippy the chihuahua, many wonderful friends who kept him company week after week, members of his extended family, and all those whose company he enjoyed over the years. He was pre-deceased by his parents, James and Iva Marie Perkins Doran, his wife Lucille Jane Mead Doran, his daughter Sigrid, his son James, and the rest of his immediate family. In keeping with his wishes, there are no services, but maybe you can visit someone who likes to swap stories but doesn't get many visitors – in his honor.