Doris Ann Hanks

May 06, 2008 11:34 am

— Doris Ann Hanks, of Stillwater, died Sunday, May 4, 2008, in Stillwater. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday in First United Methodist Church with The Rev. Stanley M. Warfield Jr. officiating. Strode Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Doris Ann was born on Aug. 17, 1930, to Stephen Glenn Douglas and Edith Irene (Harned) Douglas. She was the oldest of four children. Doris (aka DA) was born and raised in Stillwater where she graduated from Stillwater High School in 1948. She began her college life as a physical education major at Oklahoma A&M (Oklahoma State University) where she became an active member of the Chi Omega Sorority. She met Ernest L. Hanks of Calico Rock, Ark., at Oklahoma A&M the summer before attending the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Upon returning to Stillwater, they were married at her parents’ home on Dec. 27, 1950.
Doris Ann had an active childhood involving her two horses, playing coronet in the SHS Band, dancing with Dorothy Lynch’s dance studio and as a summer camp counselor/lifeguard. She enjoyed spending summers with her family at Yost Lake. She was a member of First United Methodist Church. She pursued studies in physical education, special education and psychology at the University of Northern Colorado. Doris was president and actively involved in Orchesis, a modern dance group. She choreographed many dances for the group and designed and sewed all the costumes in their dance productions. In 1969, she graduated from Colorado State College (aka UNC) in Greeley, Colo., with a BA in physical education. She spent the next nine years teaching PE at Heath Junior High School in Greeley. After teaching, she operated foster/group homes for girls and boys ranging in age from nine years through high school. She spent 21 years in the business with group homes in both Weld and Larimer Counties, Colorado.
Doris Ann remarried in 1981 to John Peterson of Illinois and was widowed one year later. She returned to Stillwater in June 1991 to care for her parents and has been a resident there ever since. The past nine years Doris has spent in Stillwater she has been teaching water exercise classes in the ALPS program for seniors.
DA spent her life loving/caring for people of all ages and anyone in need of a friend, a good meal or a place to stay. Her life has been an inspiration to many who have crossed paths with or spent time with Doris. Doris Ann will be truly missed by all who have come to know and love her over these past 77 years. She has touched too many lives to count and will continue to do so even in her passing. To Doris Ann: Thank you for being such an integral part of our lives! We love you more than words can express.
She is preceded in death by her youngest son, Daniel L. Hanks of Denver, Colo.
Survivors are her sisters, Betty Bellis and husband, Charles Mankin, of Norman and Judy and Harvard Tomlinson of Duncan, along with her brother, Ben and Carol Douglas of Stillwater. She also is survived by five children, Nancy Hunter of Windsor, Colo., Shirley Russ of Milliken, Colo., Gary L. Hanks of LaSalle, Colo., Betty Ann Johnson of Platteville, Colo. and David J. Hanks of Brighton, Colo. Other survivors include 16 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.