A Bronx Girl Until The Very End Despite Being Thousands of Miles Away From “Home”

The late Doris Perlmutter hadn't lived in The Bronx since the late 70s and moved to the West Coast but you couldn't drag The Bronx and her love for our borough out from her.
The late Doris Perlmutter hadn’t lived in The Bronx since the late 70s and moved to the West Coast but you couldn’t drag The Bronx and her love for our borough out from her.

I generally don’t call women girls that I never personally met and friends with but Doris Perlmutter was always proud to call herself a “Bronx Girl”.

Doris Perlmutter, a strong Bronx-born and raised woman through and through despite having moved to California where she lived for almost 40 years since the late 70s, passed away last month, January 20th, much to many of our surprise who knew her through Facebook.

You see, Doris was such a hardcore lover of our borough and the beauty that is The Bronx that she created a popular Facebook group called ‘Bronxites Now Living in Southern California‘ (the group has since been renamed ‘Doris Perlmutter’s Bronxites Now Living in Southern California’ in her memory).

The group was a way for her to connect with Bronxites now living in that part of the country as well as connect with those of us still here in the borough. Along with the group she planned yearly reunions in Marina del Rey, CA for those very Bronxites to get together and meet up and just have good old fun times talking about a place they loved.

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Doris posted a plethora of historical posts on The Bronx and many of the members recalled fondly their days of growing up in our borough.

Despite living in different decades and eras of The Bronx, that didn’t phase Doris whom I had the pleasure of chatting with on and off throughout the year of knowing her through the group.

She also had a humorous side to her when it came to reliving memories by creating photoshopped images (called wayback trips) of friends and members of the group and pasting them onto pictures of The Bronx along with captions and comment balloons making for a fun way to relive those memories.

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Eric Golub, a friend of Doris posted on Facebook the following tribute and brief history of her life”

“As a tribute to Doris, I will give you all a brief history of her life, as she has told me in the past.  She grew up in the Bronx,  a block from where I lived, on Bronx Park East near Waring Ave.  Her building was there before all of the buildings from the 50’s & 60’s came up.  She went to PS 96 and fell in love with that school.  So much, that when she became a teacher, she got placed there from 1967 -1972.  She was there when I went there, although I never had her.  She was transferred to PS 111, did not like it there,  and missed PS 96 so much that she moved to Calif. in the late 70’s, where she taught there.  After she retired, she continued to teach computer classes.
She was and will always be the most educated poster on FB.  She always missed NYC, and FB became her way to revive her memories and educate us.  She was a relentless poster on Bronx history.  I sent her many photos that I took of the Bronx which she posted.  The PS 96 site had a ” Classmates”  banner from the outside of my class pictures.  She also was active on the Christopher Columbus HS site, which she went to herself,  and I supplied her the banner which I saved from the 70’s.
Doris led a very healthy life style. She hadn’t eaten red meat, sugar, sodas, or processed foods since her 20’s.  She also posted articles on health and eating right.  She went to a gym every week and was in wonderful shape.  She told me a few years ago that she was just 4 pounds heavier than when she graduated Columbus HS.  She should have lived to be 100.
She touched thousands of hearts as a teacher, friend and Facebook fan.
RIP Doris.”

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And, indeed, she touched the hearts of thousands as witnessed on the outpouring of grief over her passing. While searching for more information on her life, I came across an obituary where a student wrote on a teacher’s passing, “The loveliest kindest teacher I’ve ever had. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have Doris Perlmutter as a teacher, as she is the other loveliest and kindest teacher I’ve ever known.”

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Doris, you are so loved and I hope you got to know that in life. You brought us all together—strangers across time and place but united by our love for The Bronx. Thank you for keeping the love alive for The Bronx and being one of our biggest ambassadors ever.

You will always be our #1 Bronx Girl.

Tribute by Bob Schwam
Tribute by Bob Schwam
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Ed García Conde

Ed García Conde is a life-long Bronxite who spends his time documenting the people, places, and things that make the borough a special place in the hopes of dispelling the negative stereotypes associated with The Bronx. His writings are often cited by mainstream media and is often consulted for his expertise on the borough's rich history.