By Emily Williams
On April 10, Neil Doidge of Mountain Brook attended a ceremony in Montgomery to seal his status as a citizen of the United States of America.
Doidge grew up in Falmouth, a small town in Cornwall, in southwestern England. His mother still lives in the family home and his sister also lives in Cornwall, where she has reared four children.
“I came across to the U.S. in 1980, when the company I was working for in the United Kingdom bought a company in Texas, and I came over to help set the business up,” Doidge said.
He remained in the states, meeting and marrying Suzan Smith and moving to Birmingham, where they have reared two children.
Doidge works as director of strategy at Imerys Minerals USA. His wife is executive director of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce.
With one child a senior in high school and the other a junior at Auburn University, Doidge decided to make his status in the United States more official when it came time to renew his green card last year.
“Given that I had been in the USA for so long and have a United States family and work here, it only made sense to apply for citizenship,” Doidge said.
His was a 12-month process, occasionally filling out paperwork and submitting the required documentation.
The process ends with a ceremony that requires each person applying for citizenship to state an oath of allegiance to their new home country.
According to Doidge, “if you intend to become a citizen, I think it’s only right that you pledge your allegiance to the United States of America and forgo your loyalty to other countries.
“The swearing-in ceremony was moving, especially the opening video that started with the Statue of Liberty and the ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses,’ quote,” he said. “Also to see such a diversity of people getting citizenship all with their own individual story.”
Joining Doidge and his wife at the ceremony was both their son and daughter, which was a surprise for Doidge.
“On the day of the swearing in, Neil thought that I was the only one from the family coming to the ceremony,” Doidge’s wife said.
His son, a varsity soccer player for Mountain Brook High School, missed practice to attend, even though it meant he would miss playing time during the team’s game the following day.
In addition, his daughter drove up to the ceremony from school to surprise Doidge.
“I don’t think I have ever taken being an American for granted and appreciate the freedoms this country has given me, but it was an emotional day for me to see people from all over the world stand as one to take the oath, most with tears in their eyes,” Suzan said. “That day will forever be a memory that we will have and our children will cherish forever.”
In addition to sealing his citizenship, Doidge registered to vote for the first time. With his son having recently turned 18, the two will be able to vote for the first time together.
