GALVESTON — Doris Sanders passed away April 11, 2010, at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, just two months shy of celebrating the hundredth year of a life filled with love for family, friends, history, and travel.
If you wanted Doris to accompany you on a trip, you never had to ask her twice: her bag was packed and she was ready to head out the door. Her world adventures took her to almost every continent, including Australia at the young age of 92.
Doris Annette Dunham was born in Bowie, Texas, on June 18th, 1910. The hardships of two world wars, the Dust Bowl, and the Great Depression forged close bonds between Doris and her siblings, Jack, Perry, Jimmy, and Marie.
Doris married Carl Sanders and they had three children: Carl Jr., Larry, and Sandra. Doris was widowed at the early age of 42, and moved with her daughter to Port Lavaca, Texas, where she worked as an administrative secretary at Travis Middle School.
In 1962, Doris moved to Universal City, Texas, where she was a founding board member of the Universal City United Methodist Church. She worked as a secretary at Randolph High School and gained life-long friends who enjoyed traveling and hosting events like their annual Miss America viewing party.
In 1979, she married Homer Ruyle, a long-time family friend from Corpus Christi. After losing her second husband, she lived for many years in Universal City, and finally came to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Sandra and Bob Paul of Texas City, Texas. Doris attended the First United Methodist Church of Dickinson, and remained politically active: at age 98, she cast her vote and caucused for President Barack Obama.
Doris loved crochet and quilting, and volunteered for years at the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, introducing visitors to the artistry and friendship of quilting. Her love for family and friends were threads that connected cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews, and she will be deeply missed by hundreds of friends and surviving family: Mary Dunham of Fort Worth, Texas; Carl and Lydia Sanders of Cibolo, Texas; Larry and Cindy Sanders of San Antonio, Texas; Sandra and Robert Paul of Texas City, Texas; Galloway and Mary Hudson of Houston, Texas; and Jane Sanders of Portland, Oregon.
Grandchildren: Jerri Lynn Sanders of Austin, Texas; Harold Sanders of Austin, Texas; Trey Sanders (d. 1998); Judy Sanders (d. 1998); Norman and Lisa Sanders of Huntingtown, Maryland; Jennifer and Andy Lorenz of Cypress, Texas; Mary Kay and Michael Higgins of Houston, Texas; Kendall Hudson (d. 2003); Kimberly and Blake Ingram of Sunnyvale, Texas; Geoffrey and Kjersti Sanders of Sandy, Oregon; Bobby and Ginger Paul of Alvin, Texas; Stephen and Allie Paul of Cypress, Texas; 14 great grandchildren.
As many years ago she decided to donate her body to the University of Texas Medical Branch for medical research, friends and family of Doris are invited to a memorial service honoring her life on Saturday, May 1, at 2 p.m., at the First United Methodist Church of Dickinson, 200 FM 517, Dickinson, Texas 77539.
The family requests donations in her memory to the Institute of Texan Cultures, Docent program, 801 E. Durango Blvd., San Antonio, TX, 78205, the Universal City United Methodist Church, or the First United Methodist Church of Dickinson.
