Doris J. Harmon's Obituary
Doris June Troxel was born December 28, 1928 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Henry and Arena Troxel. When Doris was a young girl in the 1930’s—during what was known as the Dust Bowl years—the Troxel Family moved to Southern California. They settled in Oceanside where Doris attended elementary school and her dad tended a lemon grove.
Doris graduated from Oceanside-Carlsbad Union High School in 1947. It was that same year, she met Glenn Calvin Harmon—a young Marine from Saint Louis, Missouri who was stationed at Camp Pendleton. They married on November 30, 1947. Soon after, they moved to Tacoma, Washington where Glenn’s father Rollie Addison Harmon pastored the Roosevelt Heights Christian Church.
In Tacoma, Doris worked at a collection agency downtown and Glenn worked with his brother-in-law Frank Poston at a gas station owned by Rev. Harmon. Glenn and Doris
purchased a house in the Roosevelt Heights neighborhood where several of Glenn’s siblings and their families also lived: Margaret & Charlie Carson, Myrtle & Frank Poston, and Paul & June Harmon. Doris was an only child, so Glenn’s family quickly became her family, too. His youngest sister Frances Harmon lived at the parsonage on the church property with her parents, Rollie and Ollie. When Doris first met “Frankie,” they were 19 and 13, respectively. They became life-long friends—even to the point of spending their last few years together at the Sunset Garden Apartments in Puyallup in the same building and on the same floor.
Glenn and Doris raised 4 boys (Bob, John, Rick, and Ed)—starting out in the 2-bedroom house on East 35th Street, moving in the late 50’s to a larger place in Puyallup off of Canyon Road. As the boys grew older and became more involved in school and related activities, Doris provided limited childcare to a couple of school-aged children who lived nearby, then became employed by the Tacoma School District as a paraprofessional. Glenn and Doris divorced after about 30 years of marriage—at which time, Doris returned to college to update and sharpen her secretarial and accounting skills. She worked as administrative assistant for a Lakewood accounting firm and later as secretary for the Southside Church of Christ in Tacoma—where her father Henry was an Elder and Larry Redelsperger was an Associate Minister.
Doris was a life-long member of the Church of Christ and was particularly active in the Ladies’ Caring Ministry. Spanning many years, that group of dedicated women crafted innumerable handsewn teddy bears, head scarves, and scripture pillows for hospitalized children, cancer patients, and disaster victims—with distribution across the entire country.
Time passed, her sons were married with families of their own, and Doris retired to care for her elderly mother, Arena Troxel. Not long after Arena passed away, Doris developed some health issues—not the least of which was macular degeneration, which prevented her from any longer driving a car. She moved to Olympia, Washington, living with her oldest son, Bob and his wife Joanne for a number of years.
Most recently, Doris lived at the Sunset Garden Apartments on South Hill in Puyallup. Doris passed away on October 15, 2020—joining her sister-in-law Frankie who had passed away in May. Doris is survived by: Bob (Joanne) of Olympia; John (Janet) Graham; Rick (Kari) Nampa, Idaho; and Ed (Helene) Winter Garden, Florida; 8 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for:
· Monday, October 26, 2020 @ 1:00PM PDT
· Aspen Chapel, Mountain View Memorial Park and Cemetery
· 4100 Steilacoom Blvd SW, Lakewood, WA
Graveside service will follow at 2:30PM.
[NOTE: Masks are required; attendance is limited to 30.]
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