Doris M. Martin

Doris M. Martin passed on Monday, November 20, 2023. In her final days, she was surrounded and supported by her loving sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren.  

She was born June 5, 1924 in a small farmhouse near Bendena, KS, the second child of Salem and Martha Jones and younger sister to Eugene. In 1931, her younger sister, Donna, was born.

During the Depression in 1935 the family traveled to Colorado to visit relatives, hoping to find work, but on the way home they were struck head-on by a drunk driver, a crash that killed her sister Donna and injured her mother Martha severely.

Doris was, first and foremost, a caregiver. This experience instilled in her the importance and preciousness of family.  

In 1937, when Doris was in 8^th grade, her younger brothers Wayne and Dean were born and finally, her youngest brother Darwin was born in 1941. She would help to raise and care for all. Wayne and Dean never miss an opportunity to complement her as the best older sister anyone could ask for.  

After graduating from Highland High School in 1941 she attended Highland Junior College and enjoyed worked in the telephone office as a switchboard operator. Her most vivid memory of this time was working alone Sunday, December 7, when the entire board “literally lit up” but she could not figure out why. Finally, between calls, someone told her that Pearl Harbor had been bombed.

Later, Doris would move to Saint Joseph, MO to an apartment on South 10^th Street and worked as an operator and cashier at the Hotel Robidoux. It was there that she would meet her future husband, Loren D. Martin, who was a clerk at the front desk. They were married in January 1950 and she would care for him until his untimely death from Parkinson’s in 1979. She never entertained the idea of dating anyone else.

Doris and Loren had two sons, Daryl born in 1950 and Dennis born in 1954, who she would care for until they were off to college by 1972.

Music was a great joy throughout Doris’s life, as a hobby as well as a way to connect with the community around her. She learned the flute, saxophone, and bell lyre but her main musical passion was piano. This was a talent she learned from her mother as a young girl and had the ability to play by ear. Some of her favorites were songs from the Sound of Music and Handel’s Messiah, and Doris had a tremendous appreciation for anything on the pipe organ. In her 80s she was known to volunteer at an area nursing home so she could play for all the “little people.” 

A woman of quiet and ecumenical Christian faith, Doris’ early years were spent in the Highland Presbyterian Church, she was confirmed in the Bendena Lutheran Church, and later joined the Roeland Park United Methodist Church, where she would be an active member for more than 50 years.

Over her lifetime she became an increasingly avid sports fan, supporting both the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals. It has been rumored that Doris and her brothers may have taken the train to see Mickey Mantle back in the day. But she most enjoyed root, root, rooting for her favorite ballplayer, Alex Gordon, and the home team as they won the World Series in 2015.

Doris spent the last 5 years of her life as the unofficial chief of staff the Homestead Assisted Living Center, where she was known by the nurses simply as “Grandma.”

Doris is survived by her brothers Wayne and Dean (Jo) Jones; sons Daryl (Sandy) and Dennis (Mary) Martin; grandchildren Cooper (Sandy) Martin, Grady (Ashlee) Martin, Erin Martin, and Jared (My-Linh) Martin.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Visitation will be 12PM, with services to follow at 1PM, Tuesday, November 28 at Park Lawn Funeral Home, 8251 Hillcrest Rd., Kansas City, Missouri; burial in Forest Hill Cemetery.