Doris June Pearson
June 24, 1927 - April 20, 2010
Beloved Mother, Grandmother, Friend, Talented Artist and Gardener
“Gardens are not made by singing "Oh, how beautiful," and sitting in the shade.” – Rudyard Kipling
Doris June Pearson passed away on April 20th, 2010, at her home in Edmonds. She was born in Seattle on June 24, 1927 and was the only child of her wonderful adoptive parents, George and Lillian Gould. She grew up in Seattle and attended West Seattle High School where she developed friendships that lasted throughout her life.
Doris had many interests growing up, and during World War II, she learned to fly small airplanes with the Civil Air Patrol at Cle Elum, eventually flying solo.
After graduating from high school, Doris began working in the classified advertising department at the Seattle Times, where she met her future husband, Carl Pearson. They were married 44 years, until Carl passed away in 1991.
Doris and Carl established their first home on a one-half acre plot of land in Lynnwood, Washington. They were fond of animals and kept chickens, rabbits, pigs and horses. Doris developed her love for dogs, raising her cocker spaniel, Coffee. Later on she would enter and win competitive dog shows with her champion Basset Hound, Notrenom Sir Digby. In later years, she developed a particular fondness for her cat Chi Chi, her companion for the last fifteen years.
In addition to being a homemaker and raising three boys, Doris further developed her artistic skills after the family moved to Edmonds in the early 1960’s. She took several pottery courses and eventually taught the craft and sold her pottery commercially. She also earned her credentials as a Master Gardener and volunteered her time to help fellow gardeners.
We remember Doris for her devotion to friends and family, her passion for travel, a thirst for knowledge, her kindred spirit with animals and nature, her beautiful gardens, her tireless energy, her sense of humor, and her innate ability to catch (and cook) bounties of the sea.
Doris is survived by her children Carl, Steve and Marv, their spouses Kathy, Ann and Marilee, her grandchildren Evan, Lori and Carl, and her sister-in-law, Bettie Black.
FUNERAL INFORMATION
Graveside services will be held at 2:00 pm Wednesday, May 19th at Edmonds Memorial Cemetery, followed by a gathering at her home in Edmonds. In lieu of flower arrangements, we encourage those attending the service to bring a clip off their favorite tree, plant or flower to be placed at the cemetery.
DONATIONS
Doris was an active volunteer with two local organizations, and remembrances would be welcomed:
South County Senior Center(SCSC Edmonds) P O Box 717, Edmonds, WA 98020
Snohomish County Master Gardener Foundation (SCMGF)) 600 128th St SE, Everett, WA 98208
Or you may want to consider a donation to: American Lung Association. Make your check payable to: The American Lung Association and mail to: Steve Pearson 152 SE Spokane St #8 Portland, OR 97202
Memorial
The Comfort of Friends
They that love beyond the World, cannot be separated by it.
A true friend unbosums freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably. Death cannot kill, what never dies.
Nor can Spirits ever be divided that love and live in the same Divine Principle; the Root and Record of their Friendship.
If Absence be not death, neither is theirs.
Death is but Crossing the World, as Friends do the Seas; They live in one another still.
For they must needs be present, that love and live in that which is Omnipresent.
In this Divine Glass, they see Face to Face; and their Converse is Free, as well as Pure.
This is the Comfort of Friends, that though they may be said to Die, yet their Friendship and Society are, in the best Sense, ever present, because Immortal.
- William Penn
Hurray for Doris!
Assembling here for celebration,
We offer words of admiration.
To Doris who does so many things,
It makes our head spin 'round in rings!
She rises always before the sun,
Works out in the gym like it was fun!
Then flaps her flippers in lanes aquatic,
And trucks home to hoe her garden exotic!
She grows veggies and roses and trees that blossom,
Golly gee - her talents are really awesome!
So - one and all we join in a chorus -
Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! for Doris!
She rows her boat and catches fishes,
And digs the clams for chowder delicious!
She sews her swimsuits - so clever you see,
And we "ooo" and "aah" at her pottery!
But her very best attribute, none will deny,
Is the crab feast she gives the last of July!
We offer our undying gratitude,
For her sure-handed crab pot aptitude!
Again, hear our grateful, thankful chorus -
Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! for Doris!
July 28, 2000
Rowers
On Death
You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life? The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light. If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond; and like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring. Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor. Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran