On September 7, 2014, Doris let go of her last memory from this earth, as she went to join Roy for their next big adventure. Born on a farm in North Dakota to Violet and Fred Ellwanger, Doris spent her adult life in Spokane, WA, where she made an early splash as USO Hostess of the year. She loved to travel, taking a daring cross-country bus trip, which included a cruise to Havana, Cuba. Back in Spokane, she married Roy Quigley, raised a family, worked as a medical transcriptionist, and perfected the skills of a craftswoman and expert seamstress. Every summer she enjoyed family trips to Priest Lake where she tempted all with the smells of her huckleberry pancakes and smoked fish.
Mom shared this Norwegian poem as her final thought:
Death is a mountain that lifts its cool snow over the road that you travel. There you shall stand on that last evening, and see in the fiery glow of the setting sun how beautiful life really was.
Doris was preceded in death by Roy Quigley, her husband of 57 years, her parents, and her siblings, Margie, Floyd, and Betty. She is survived by her three children and their spouses: Terri Helmick and Jack Clark, Bobbi and Bill Herzberg, and Steve and Colleen Quigley; grandchildren, Chris (Angel), Ben, and David (Amanda) Gamman, Jamie (Joe) Celaya, Steven and Cara Quigley and Glenn (Kami), and Abigail Herzberg; and great grandchildren, Bailey, Lucy, Ashton, and Kylon.
Special thanks to the Silver Creek Inn, her visiting angels, and Hospice of the Valley for their loving care. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of the Valley at hov.org.
Doris and Roy will be memorialized together at a family event at Priest Lake next Spring.