Doreen Sorenson Baumann

Doreen Estelle Sorenson Baumann (76), of Bluffton, SC passed away on July 8, 2023 at home. She was born on March 5, 1947 in Houston, Texas to Doris Chandler Sorenson, a librarian, and Dr. Martin Peder Sorensen, an educator. She was the devoted wife of 30 years to Stuart Baumann of Bluffton. She was a loving mother to Christian (Betsy), of Savannah; Mark (Michaela) of Bluffton and Andrew (Pam) Yates of Thunder Bay, Ontario. She was “Grammy D” to her grandson Soren Yates.

Doreen’s father Martin, a Texan, met New York City native Doris while training at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during Martin’s World War II service. They settled in Texas briefly, and welcomed Doreen and her younger brother James “Jim” Sorenson into their lives.

When she was four years old, Doreen’s family moved to Bayville, a beach town on the north shore of Long Island, New York. It was in Bayville that Doreen developed a love and respect for the coast. Boating, waterskiing, and sailing on the Sound became key parts of her formative years.

A glimpse into Doreen’s future as an author came in 1969 after she graduated from Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio and began a career in managing school textbook production at two book publishing companies in New York City. She helped bring books to print for authors like Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and Bill Martin Jr.

Becoming a mother of three boys and living overseas led Doreen to exciting adventures that took many paths through Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Doha, Qatar; Rochester, New York; and Long Valley, New Jersey. In 1993, she moved to Hilton Head to “new beginnings" with husband, Stu and her boys. After fifteen years building homebuilding and specialty millwork businesses together Doreen and Stu enjoyed a brief “retirement” moving to La Veta, Colorado and caring for four horses. In a few years, they returned to the beautiful and much warmer South Carolina Lowcountry.

In 2020, Doreen returned to her publishing roots, established her own publishing company, and wrote two children’s books, the Coastal Critter Chronicles series, aimed at educating and entertaining young readers and helping them become aware of the beautiful coastal environment in which they live and visit. She was active in her Bluffton community as chair of Celebrate Bluffton, co-chair of the Bluffton Creative Initiative, archivist in the Historic Bluffton Foundation, and organizer in her Stock Farm neighborhood.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the American Cancer Society.

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