News

By Rich Pollack

    HIGHLAND BEACH — Doris Trinley always took a moment to make someone else feel special.
    “She had a habit of saying something nice to someone older than she was every single day to make them feel better,” said Beverly Brown, Highland Beach’s town manager and a close friend. Mrs. Trinley, a former Highland Beach town clerk who was later elected to serve on the Town Commission, died at Boca Raton Regional Hospital on Aug. 7, following a short illness. She was 79.
    “Doris was one of the nicest and fairest commissioners we’ve ever had,” said current Commissioner Lou Stern. “She was my mentor on the commission.”
    Born and raised in South Amboy, N.J., she was hired by the town of Highland Beach as a secretary in 1988 and she quickly moved up through the ranks. Within a year of joining the staff, she was appointed deputy town clerk, and in 1995 was named town clerk, a job she held for 12 years.
    “For me, the best part of being town clerk was the chance to be an integral link to the commission, the staff and, most importantly, the Highland Beach residents,” Mrs. Trinley said in a 2013 Coastal Star story. Two months after retiring in 2007, she was elected without opposition to her first term as a town commissioner and was re-elected three years later, also without opposition.
    As a town commissioner “she had a total grasp of each and every situation,” said Stern, who served on the commission with Mrs. Trinley and who credits her for getting him involved in town government. “When she spoke, her words were right on.”
    A resident of Highland Beach since 1983, Mrs. Trinley became close to Brown, who succeeded her as town clerk.
    “We became friends immediately,” Brown said. “We were both Irish and with a good sense of humor.”
    Though her eyesight was failing, Mrs. Trinley managed to have dinner with Brown twice a month.
    “Doris really enjoyed life,” Brown said. “She always had a smile on her face.”
    Mrs. Trinley is survived by two sons, Michael and Paul, and their families; and by her brother, Thomas Ryan, and his family.  A Mass was said on Aug. 20 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Boca Raton.