Doranský, Mary

• Jakl, Mary

Mary Doranský (née Jakl) was born in Linden, New Jersey (United States) on November 25th, 1915. Her parents were Josef Jakl and Mary Pinter (daughter of František Pinter and Maria Vondras). She had 3 siblings: Karel (Charles), Emily and Joseph.

In 1921, the Jakl family travelled back to Czechoslovakia, where her mother decided to remain with the children. Her father returned to North America and remarried.
Mary attended the Komensky School and Teacher’s College. Following her studies, she held several teaching positions in Vienna and Eastern Slovakia, mostly Rusha Volova where she met her future husband Ján L. Doranský.

Ján L. Doranský and Mary Jakl married on February 5th, 1939. Following their wedding, they moved to Ján L. Doranský’s hometown of Trstená (Slovakia) and then Bratislava where he began organizing a Cultural Affairs Division within the Ministry of National Defence. During their stay in Bratislava, Mary Doranský gave birth to two children: Maria Anna (Mary) and Louis.

In 1945, fearing retaliation from the Red Army, the Doranský family fled Bratislava. After stays in Austria, Oberfeldkirchen (Bavaria), Assisi, Rome and Naples (Italy) and northern Germany, the Doranský family arrived in Montréal on February 9th, 1950. For the next years, Mary Doranský held several jobs as a button-maker, lampshade stretcher, cleaner, assistant florist and administrative assistant.

Following her husband’s death on April 5th, 1973, Mary Doranský moved to St. Vincent and Grenadine to be near her daughter Maria Anna (Mary) Barnard (née Doranský). In 1979, she moved to Toronto (Ontario) and lived in the Seneca Towers where she painted, babysat and looked after her grandchildren. On November 25th, 2015, Mary Doranský turned 100 years old. She passed away in 2018.