Doris Friedman, 88

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February 5, 2021

Doris Toltz Friedman, a resident of Tarrytown and former village justice, died suddenly February 3. She was 88.

Born on December 16, 1932 to Frances z’l and Harry Toltz z’l in Chelsea, Massachusetts, she grew up surrounded by an extended family in a city she loved. A proud member of Tufts University’ class of 1954, she was in her first year at Boston University School of Law when on a blind date she met the love of her life, Samuel Joseph Friedman, a Harvard law student. Married nine months later in Boston, they each graduated law school in 1957 and moved to Arlington, Virginia. where Sam started his legal career. In 1960 Dori and Sam moved to Westchester County. They ultimately settled into their Cottontail Lane, Irvington, New York home in 1963 where they raised their three daughters, Ruth, Laura and Jill. They also acquired a home they loved in the Berkshires which was designed to welcome extended family and lifelong friends. Dori and Sam adored traveling the world, time in the Berkshires, the arts, meals by the fireplace and time together until Sam’s untimely death in 1997. Dori continued to travel, visiting India, Antarctica and other locations while embracing her passions for reading, theater, dance and music, cooking, politics and Boston-based professional sports teams.

Mrs. Friedman loved being a lawyer. After volunteering in numerous community activities, especially with the Community Opportunity Center of the Tarrytowns, she sat for the New York State bar exam in 1970. She practiced law in New York for almost 50 years, representing both criminal and civil parties, assisted in initiating a civil division in the local Legal Aid Society, and then developed a matrimonial practice that led to a commitment for mediation. She was a founder and principal of the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation. She served as acting justice of the Village of Tarrytown for 16 years and capped her judicial career as Senior Judge of the Town of Greenburgh, serving from 2008 through 2011. Upon ‘retirement,’ she loved teaching legal studies at Mercy College, continued her law practice and at the time of her death remained a member of the Greenburgh Ethics Board. She also served as a member of the Board of Directors of The Quay, the community she moved to and loved after leaving her Irvington home.

Mrs. Friedman was a trailblazer, a passionate advocate for causes of equity and justice. But most important to her were family, friends and colleagues who became family. She is survived by her daughters Ruth (Barry Wasserman) Friedman of Orange, Connecticut, Laura (Barry Gertz) Friedman of New York City and Copake, New York, Jill (Daniel Zdanoff) Friedman of White Plains, grandchildren Elisha (Michael) Nelson, Megan (David) Cardenas, Steven and Samuel Wasserman, Rebecca, James and Jessica Zdanoff, great-grandchildren Mackenzie and Madilyn Nelson and Alexander andd Derek Cardenas, extended family members and dear friends too numerous to count. Memories of her twinkling blue eyes and infectious smile will help carry her memory forward.

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