Born: Providence, Rhode Island on January 18, 1918

Passed: Newbury Park, California on November 4, 2016

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ALL WHO WERE BLESSED TO KNOW DORIS IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED THAT SHE WAS A COMPLEX SOUL OF RARIFIED GRACE, DIGNITY, COMPASSION, PATIENCE & STRENGTH. SHE CONTINUED TO TEACH THOSE WHO LOVED HER THROUGH QUIET EXAMPLE UNTIL HER LAST MOMENT IN THIS LIFE.

ONE SALIENT FEATURE ABOUT DORIS IS THAT SHE UNDERSTOOD THE SIMPLE FACT THAT EVERYTHING IN LIFE IS CONNECTED AND THAT, ONE MUST SEEK TO HONOR THOSE TIES IN EVERY THOUGHT, EVERY WORD AND EVERY DEED. RECOGNIZING THAT DESCIPERING THE MYSTERY OF THIS CONNECTEDNESS IS GOD'S DOMAIN ALONE, DORIS WISELY CHOSE TO QUIETLY MOVE THROUGH ALL OF LIFE'S NOISE- BE IT BEAUTIFULLY JOYOUS OR NOT.

NEARLY A CENTURY OF LIVING CHALLENGED DORIS THROUGHOUT HER LIFE JOURNEY. THE UPHEAVAL OF THE 1920s STOCK MARKET CRASH, THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II HEAVILY IMPACTED HER FORMATIVE YEARS, AND CURTAILED MANY OF HER YOUTHFUL DREAMS. SOON MARRIED AT AGE 27 TOWARD THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, DORIS POURED HER HEART AND SOUL INTO RAISING HER GROWING FAMILY. SHE INSTILLED IN HER ELEVEN CHILDREN, WITH VARING DEGREES OF SUCCESS, A BUDDING APPRECIATION OF LIFE'S CONNECTEDNESS. THE MANTRA BECAME, "LOOK AFTER EACH OTHER AT ALL TIMES, AND REMEMBER TO TAKE THE ONE BEHIND YOU BY THE HAND." A POLICY OF SHARED RESPONSIBILITY AMONG HER CHILDREN WAS CENTRAL TO HER SURVIVING ALL THOSE YEARS OF ESSENTIALLY RAISING HER BROOD ALONE. THE WISDOM OF HER PATIENT INSTRUCTION BY EXAMPLE WILL FOREVER ECHO IN HER CHILDREN'S MINDS: BE POSITIVE, DO YOUR BEST, KEEP TRYING, HELP EACH OTHER, LOVE IS ALL!

TO BE SURE, HER GENTLE PARENTING STYLE COULD QUICKLY TURN WHEN THE THREAT OF TOUGH DISCIPLINE WAS REQUIRED! WITH SO MANY YOUNG ONES TO KEEP IN LINE, AN OLD LEATHER BELT WAS AT THE READY FOR SLAPPING LOUDLY AGAINST THE WALL AS A WARNING, OR, ON RARE OCCASSIONS, ON THE CALVES OF A WAYWARD CHILD. AND THEN THERE WERE THOSE BLISSFUL NIGHTLY BEDTIME READINGS, SINGING ACCOMPANIED BY THE AUTOHARP, THEN FOLLOWED BY A ROUND OF "HAIL MARYS" AND "OUR FATHERS"... INDEED, DORIS JOYFULLY RECEIVED EACH OF HER NEW CHARGES, AS SHE DID WITH THE SUBSEQUENT ARRIVAL OF EVERY GRANDCHILD, EVERY GREAT GRANDCHILD, AND EVERY GREAT, GREAT GRANDCHILD! WHEN IT CAME TO BABIES, YOU HAD HER UNDIVIDED ATTENTION!... DORIS' MOTHER, ETHEL BROWN THORNTON BOWEN, WHO RAISED EIGHT CHILDREN (ALSO MOSTLY ALONE), IS MOST CERTAINLY PROUD OF HER AMAZING DAUGHTER!

DORIS' LOVE OF NATURE WAS CLEARLY EVIDENT IN HER LIFELONG INTEREST IN GARDENING AND IN GARDENS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. SPENDING TIME MEDITATING OUTSIDE IN THE FRESH AIR, SURROUNDED BY THE MAGIC OF OUR NAURAL WORLD WAS LITERALLY HER CUP OF TEA! SHE RELISHED TAKING SHORT ROADTOURS AROUND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH HER ADULT CHILDREN-VISITING THE PACIFIC OCEAN WAS A FAVORITE, AS WAS HUNTING FOR WILDFLOWERS IN SPRING WHEN CALIFORNIA'S MOUNTAINS ARE GREEN FOR A SHORT WHILE AT LEAST!

DORIS ALSO NOURISHED HER INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY WITH READINGS AND POETRY, STAYING ABREAST OF WORLD AFFAIRS & POLITICS (HER LAST CIVIC ACT WAS TO PROUDLY VOTE FOR HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA), ARMCHAIR TRAVEL TO EVERY CORNER OF PLANET EARTH, ART APPRECIATION (ESPECIALLY IMPRESSIONIST PAINTERS), THEATER GRAND AND SMALL, MUSICAL PERFORMANCES OF ENDLESS VARIETY AND, OF COURSE, EXPLORING THE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL SUSTANANCE OFFERED BY VARIOUS RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS.

DURING HER LAST ELEVEN YEARS ON PLANET EARTH, AS HER PHYSICAL BODY DECLINED AFTER A SERIES OF MAJOR MEDICAL CRISES, DORIS TREASURED HER TIME SPENT IN MARY HEALTH OF THE SICK'S BEAUTIFUL CHAPEL LISTENING TO THE NUNS' JOYFUL SINGING DURING SUNDAY MASS. EQUALLY NOUISHING TO HER SPIRIT WAS THE TIME SHE SPENT LISTENING TO THE SOUND OF THE WIND IN THE TREES & TO THE SOFT BABBLE OF WATER FALLS IN MARY HEALTH'S AMAZING MEDITATION GARDEN... THE OTHER "CHAPEL" ON ITS GROUNDS...

BEING A CAPRICORN, AND THEREBY LOVER OF MOTHER EARTH, IT FEELS RIGHT THAT DORIS WOULD SAY GOOD-BYE DURING AUTUMN, HER FAVORITE OF OUR EARTHLY SEASONS; HOW SHE LOVED THOSE BIRGHT RED MAPLE LEAVES OF FALL! AND BEING FROM DEEPLY ROOTED ANCESTRY FROM THE "OCEAN STATE" OF RHODE ISLAND, DORIS' LOVE OF FRESH SALT AIR NEVER ABATED. AS HER OLDER SISTER, BERNICE, INFORMED THE CLAN, IN DORIS' YOUNGER DAYS, ONE COULD NOT GET HER OUT OF THOSE ATLANTIC ROLLERS! AND SO IT IS FITTING THAT SHE WOULD CHOSE THE VAST BLUE OCEAN AS HER FINAL RESTING PLACE. SHE REPOSES IN GOD'S HANDS NOW, IN THE COMPANY OF ALL WHO CHERISHED HER AND PRECEEDED HER IN TRANSITION. WE, WHO LOVED HER DEARLY, SEND HER HEARTFELT BEST WISHES FOR CONTINUED JOYOUS ADVNTURES WHILE EXPLORING THAT "GREAT BEYOND." SHE IS TRULY FREE AT LAST! AND SO, AS DORIS HERSELF WOULD SAY, "TALLY HO! LET'S ROLL!" GOD SPEED, SWEET MOTHER!

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DELIVERED ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2016, WESTLAKE VILLAGE AT DORIS' MEMORIAL SERVICE.