Dear Editor,
This is in response to the article written by Kat Teraji titled, “Doris Kallas: A Woman Who Did It Her Way” (Aug. 17). I also knew Doris Kallas and was saddened to hear that she passed away on Aug. 8 at the age of 91. Doris was a long time resident of Eigleberry Street and when she found out we were starting a neighborhood association a few years ago she was very pleased that someone was concerned enough to watch over them. She told us about her husband, John Kallas, a former police officer in Gilroy who also organized the neighborhood years ago. Doris wanted to help us get started so she gave me a few dollars and said, “I know you guys will put it to good use.”
But what Doris really gave us was a sense of history of the community and a volunteer who was ALWAYS willing to help. So as we planned our events we also had to have a plan of who was going to pick up Doris. Because if you told Doris you would be there at a certain time you had better be there. Former Councilman Charlie Morales found this out when Doris saw him at a neighborhood meeting and questioned him on several issues. Bill Faus who is the Manager of the Planning Dept. with the City of Gilroy asked me a few months ago if I knew Doris. I said yes and he told me he met her because the Planning Department had passed out flyers in the neighborhood to announce a meeting. Doris called the number on the flier and Bill answered and she asked him if he was going to pick her up for the meeting. I asked Bill what happened and he said, “I picked her up!” John Gurich who was a Gilroy Unified School District Board member and his wife also gave Doris a ride home after one of our events and became friends and would check on her from time to time. Victor Frias the Vice President of GENA and who volunteers at the “Brown Bag” program that delivers food to the elderly remembers Doris being there every Thursday morning (health permitting) filling bags.
I am pleased to say that we gave a Doris Kallas a surprise 90th birthday last year. As she gave us a teary eyed thank you she went around to all the neighbors in attendance and said, “I am glad you guys did this for me this year because I don’t know if I will be around next year.” We also lost Rose Calabro this year. Rose was a lifelong resident of Gilroy and volunteered for several organizations and was also a fixture at our meetings. Between the both of them we lost a lot of Gilroy History that cannot be replaced and two women who cared about their community.
Arthur C. Barron Sr., Victor Frias, Marbella Lopez, Kathleen Gonzales-Gilroy Eigleberry Neighborhood Association Board-(GENA)
