Sally Van Doren Dohm, 82, of Seaside Park, NJ, passed away on October 25, 2025, in her home

after a lengthy health decline. 

Sally was born in Westfield, NJ on August 28, 1943, to Emerson Maynard Van Doren and

Jaqueline Hicks Van Doren (later of Darien, CT, Seaside Park, NJ and Vero Beach, FL). Sally grew

up in Darien, CT and graduated from Darien High School, Class of 1962. 

Sally went on to earn a B.A. from Brown University (Pembroke University) in Providence, RI in

1966. She would meet Stanley Dohm of Princeton, NJ in Seaside Park during college summers,

and they married in Darien, CT in June of 1966. The young couple moved to Ann Arbor,

Michigan to attend graduate school at the University of Michigan. Sally briefly became a

kindergarten teacher before having a family. In 1972, the family moved to Darien to raise their

two daughters.  

Sally and her husband Stan took over her father Emerson’s Darien Hardware, and later also

launched Darien Cooking and Gifts and Fairfield Hardware. Sally created and ran The Rainbow

Shoppe in Darien in 1981. The store was a unique mix of gifts, party goods, and specialty

dollhouse and miniature items. In 2008, Sally retired to her family’s Seaside Park house to

enjoy the beach, swimming laps in the ocean, spoiling her dogs and growing tremendous flower

gardens. In later years, she loved to watch the birds her garden attracted.

Sally is survived by her daughter Wendy Dohm White and husband Robert White, of Ipswich,

MA; and her four grandchildren, Dr. Ryan White of Boston, Caroline White of Boston, Tyler

White and Jenny White, both in college. Sally is preceded in death by her daughter Sandy

Kathleen Dohm, parents Jaqueline and Emerson VanDoren, and her older brother, Barclay Van

Doren. She is also remembered by Barclay’s wife, Janet, and their children, Clay and Cary.

Those who wish to honor Sally’s memory can leave a message, memory or photo at her

Memorial Page at www.forevermissed.com/sally-vandoren-dohm. The family will host a

“celebration of life” in early summer, during Sally’s favorite time of the year.