Doris Canaan was the “First Lady of German Texas”.   She may never have been called this, but the lasting contributions that the Canaan family made to Texas are two venerable organizations that continue to thrive: the Texas German Day Council and the Dallas Goethe Center.   Of course it is Gershon who is credited with founding both, but would that have been even possible without the active support of Doris?   Likely not.  In the early sixties, the word “politically correct” was not invented yet, but that’s what the Canaans did by reaching out in reconciliation.   Nobody would have blamed them had they lived their lives resenting what had been done to Gershon.

An unlikely couple they were, Doris and Gershon. Gershon who, at age 15, had to go into hiding with his family when Adolf Hitler seized power.   A regular life in Friedenau, a pleasant neighborhood in southwest Berlin suddenly turned dangerous.   From Palestine to the Jewish Brigades, to the first Israeli-Arab war, to Taliesin West, Gershon had not taken the straight road to Dallas.   He was a Nazi victim and a refugee from Germany.   Doris’ way was a little shorter; from the small East Texas town of Cumby, one of 11 children, she made it to the big city with $10 in her pocket.   Doris converted to Judaism upon marrying Gershon, and together they purchased a house on St.John’s Drive in Highland Park, which Gershon, the architect, turned into a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home.   Regretfully, it no longer exists.

From the drawing board of that house, the Canaans designed the revival of German culture in Texas. Gershon became the first Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany, and soon Doris became the Honorary Consul of Monaco.   In 1963 “German Day in Texas” was recreated and the Texas German Day Council founded.   Two years later, the Dallas Goethe Center was born and thrives today; in 2012, Texas will celebrate the 50th Annual German Pioneer Ball, both lasting monuments to the giants that Doris and Gershon were.   German Texas mourns her First Lady.   At the funeral, it was my honor to convey the thanks of the German community in Texas to the family.

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Updated   20NOV11 2020 CST