Board, staff mourn late finance director

Maureen Doyle had worked for the township since 2006

Township officials are mourning the loss of one of their own.

“It’s a sad day for the township family. Our longtime finance director and friend, Maureen Doyle, passed away last week. She was buried this morning. We miss her greatly,” said supervisors’ President Chuck Wilson.

Doyle had worked for the township since 2006 after holding a similar post for over a decade in Perkasie borough, according to her obituary and township Manager Rob Ford.

Born in Philadelphia, Doyle moved to Lansdale in 1970, was a graduate of Lansdale Catholic High School and Gwynedd Mercy College, and was a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, according to her obituary with Simcox-McIlvaine Funeral Home.

She passed away on Oct. 4 at age 60 after an extended illness, according to Ford, who said township staff were given a half-day off Wednesday to attend her funeral service at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church in Lansdale.

“It’s just a huge loss for staff. She did so many things here — it was nice to see her technical skills, but as part of the staff, she just really made an enormous difference,” Ford said.

“It was a personal loss for

the township staff, not just as an employee. It really hit us hard,” he said.

Each year Doyle would lead staff and the board through a series of budget workshop meetings to develop a financial plan for the following year, and Ford said that process is already underway, but without the expert.

“Especially at budget time, where she made things so easy for me, we’re struggling through that. And then we have to figure out what we’re going to do long-term, about filling her position,” Ford said.

For now he and Wilson are handling much of the budget formulation and discussion, according to the manager, but Doyle also was responsible for all township human resources functions, which will likely require a full-time replacement.

“I’m learning a lot of it, but she was just a huge, huge loss,” Ford said.

All five supervisors acknowledged Doyle with a moment of silence at the start of the board’s Oct. 10 meeting, and Ford said several have already indicated they’d like to see some sort of permanent memorial to her at the township municipal complex, along the lines of a memorial plaque for former supervisor Tom Hollenbeck, who passed away suddenly in 2010, or the memorial garden for late administrative assistant Sharon Luma, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2012.

“It goes on. We’re responsible to make sure we move forward, and find a way to get things done. That’s what Maureen would want us to do,” said Ford.