When sisters Kathryn “Sis” Sonneborn Read ’31 and Doris “Doss” Sonneborn Lippincott ’35 speak of each other—and they each only agreed to speak at all if the other was willing—the mutual affection is evident. Doss, 88, is “beautiful,” “exquisitely dressed,” and her 2002 induction into the Atlantic County [N.J.] Women’s Hall of Fame “was terrific,” says Sis. In turn, Doss labels Sis, 92, “remarkable,” “generous,” and “respected.”

Both are lifelong tennis players. One founded Swarthmore’s women’s tennis team; the other was captain of it. After graduating—one in education, the other in fine arts—they studied shorthand and typing at a business school in their hometown Philadelphia; they both ultimately worked there, at Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University)—one in the Domestic Science Department, the other in the Physical Education Department. Their late husbands, physician Hilton Read H’62 and hotelier Jack Lippincott ’27, were best friends; Kathryn met Hilton on a blind date set up by Jack and Doss.

Sharing the happiness they have experienced in their family and married lives, Kathryn and Doss spread beneficence wherever they happen to be. Now widowed and living in Thomasville, Ga., and Margate, N.J., respectively, they still devote themselves to service of one kind or another. “We were brought up to be volunteer-minded,” says Doss.

Fifty years of Kathryn’s life have been dedicated to the Ventnor Foundation, a peace-building organization created by the Reads in 1951 and named after the New Jersey town in which they then lived. During a stay in Germany shortly after World War II, they were shocked by the horrendous working conditions of German doctors and suggested inviting some of the young medical residents to work for a year in the United States. Kathryn says: “Hilton thought that if the Germans came over and got to know the Americans and saw what our doctors were doing, and the Americans saw that the Germans were human beings, too, then, maybe, as he put it, ‘we could wage peace.’” The organization grew to include participants from Austria, Switzerland, India, South Africa, and Japan. “It was a meeting of the minds, in the hope that we could help prevent another war,” says Kathryn.

In 1962, Hilton Read received an honorary degree from Swarthmore for his work with the foundation. Kathryn, a former longtime member of the College Board of Managers, says, “Hilton got quite a few honorary degrees, but this was the one he cherished the most.” She remains in regular contact with the “alumni” of the Ventnor Foundation, publishing a newsletter and visiting them annually in Europe.

Nowadays, beside volunteer work with the local historical preservation society, library, university, and Alzheimer’s aid group, Kathryn is a reading mentor at the local elementary school, where her young students not only improve their reading but also are fascinated by the veins in her hands and the color of her white hair—some write her love letters. “It’s pure joy, this one-half hour a week,” she says.

Emphasizing the deep sense of togetherness (“we-ness”) that she says defined her marriage, Kathryn says: “I’ve tried to keep up the things that Hilton would have done. You do things where you see a need.”

Doss is a former College athlete and captain of the varsity tennis team. She also played hockey and basketball. Channeling her energy in other directions now, she is cited by the Charity League, her nominator for the Hall of Fame, as “a tireless advocate and practitioner of volunteerism, a source of inspiration to her community, church, and to the organizations to which she belongs. Doss has focused her energy and commitment toward improving the lives of those around her.”

One of Doss’ favorite activities is working for Manna, a catering group for the AIDS Alliance. “It’s very satisfying,” she says. “After you’ve chopped up 50 pounds of onions with a good friend, you’re crying together.” She is a longtime volunteer in the Atlantic City Medical Center and the American Red Cross, and she has been a member of the Charity League for 50 years. Among the league’s fund-raising activities is the sale of a Christmas pin, which varies in design from year to year. Last year, the group produced 7,000 handmade pins. She is also deacon of Margate Community Church.

For the past few years, Doss has been the focal point of a reunion that brings North and South together. In June, she rents a house close to her home and invites her family to stay. This gathering includes her son’s family from New England and Kathryn from Georgia. “It’s Christmas in June,” says one of her grandchildren. Doss’ husband, Jack, used to say, “When Doss is around, she spreads true happiness.” And she’s still doing it.

Sometimes, when relaxing from their busy lives, the sisters talk on the phone. “I called [Doss] one night,” says Kathryn, “and the Miss America pageant was on the television. For a whole hour, the two of us watched [the pageant] together, and the phone call cost only $6! Nobody minded if we talked. There was nobody wearing a big hat sitting in front of us to block the view. We had one terrific hour together. We are close.”

—Carol Brévart-Demm