Doris Eleanor Bowers, daughter of Edward and Della Warner, was born April 26, 1926 in New Haven, Connecticut.  She departed this life on Friday evening, November 20, 2020 in the home of her eldest daughter, Judy Gavin, in Fair Oak Ranch, Texas, at the age of nighty-four years.

On October 12, 1951, she was united in marriage to James Lonnie Bowers and they shared almost fifty years of marriage until the death of James "Jim" in 2001.  They were blessed with five children.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Della, her husband, James "Jim" Bowers, her oldest son, Lonnie Bowers, and her sisters, Edna Warner and Joan Linnell.  She is survived by her children and their families, Judy Gavin of Fair Oak Ranch, Texas, Susan Koxlien of Edgar Springs, Missouri, Mary Abrams of Columbus, Mississippi, and James Wade Bowers of Carrollton, Mississippi, along with six grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren, and five great-great grandchildren, as well as two grandnephews and a great-grandniece.

Doris was born and lived in New Haven, Connecticut, for a few years and later moved to New Hampshire, where her family started a chicken farm.  Upon graduation from high school, she attended Larson Junior College in New Haven, Connecticut.  She graduated in 1944 with a degree in Arts.

After graduation, she and her sister Edna moved to Orlando, Florida.  Doris worked as a window arts dresser for a department store at that time.  She met Jim while in Florida, and they were later married.  She worked as a secretary on several military installations while in Florida and Virginia.

As a wife of an Army solider, she lived in several bases in the United States and overseas:  Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Fort Ord, California, Fort Benning, Georgia, and three years in Bangkok, Thailand.  While in Thailand, Doris taught English classes to Thai college students which she found very rewarding.  After Jim retired from the military, they opened a service station and dump trucking hauling business in West Point, Mississippi.  Doris was the bookkeeper for their business as well as the head bookkeeper at Mary Holmes College.  After Doris and Jim retired, they moved to Carrollton, Mississippi, to take care of the family farm.

Doris was raised of the Catholic faith, but later in life converted to the Baptist faith.  She was a member of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Carrollton, Mississippi.  After moving to live with her daughter Judy in Fair Oak Ranch, Texas, she attended St John's Lutheran in Boerne, Texas.

Doris was an avid reader and enjoyed mysteries, westerns novels and reading about history.  She loved to share what she knew as well as what she had experienced during her life whether it was about her growing up during the Great Depression, World War II, serving as a soldiers' wife or the many interesting people she met during her lifetime.

She would keep up her art skills by drawing and doing watercolors for special occasion cards and paintings.   She enjoyed traveling and meeting new people and would always have many wonderful stories to share with all of who crossed her path.

Doris was a loving daughter, wife, mom, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend.  She was very proud of her children.  We celebrate her life and know that her family and friends will cherish the wonderful memories she created throughout the years.

She will be laid to rest at the Longview Cemetery in Carrollton, Mississippi.  Graveside services are scheduled for Saturday, November  28, 2020  at 1pm. Rev. Joseph Sansing will officiate.

Williams & Lord Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.