Obituary for Doris Tracy
Doris Tracy, 89, of Scottsbluff, died Thursday, July 18, 2019, at her home. According to her wishes, Doris has been cremated. Her family will host a memorial of her life in the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library meeting room from 2:00-4:00 on Saturday, August 3. Gifts in memory of Doris can be made to Lied Scottsbluff Public Library, or to Scottsbluff Habitat for Humanity.
Doris Maxine Tracy was born December 27, 1929 in Wichita, KS to Archa Roy and Ethel I. Hopkins. She had one brother, Donald Roy. The family lived on a wheat farm and gradually added a dairy during the depression years. It was there that she developed her life-long commitment to use everything to its utmost, and never to waste.
Doris attended elementary school at Richmond Hill, a one-room schoolhouse. She graduated from Clearwater High School, and went on to Kansas State University where she graduated in 1952 with a degree in Home Economics and Retailing. Doris met Dale Tracy when both studied at K State. They married on May 24, 1952 in the same week that Dale graduated in Veterinary Medicine. His practice took them to Ponca, Nebraska where they lived for thirty years and raised their three children. Doris devoted herself to her family, making childhoods memorable and family activities a priority throughout her life. Her beautiful smile was quietly welcoming to all.
After the children left for college Doris found more hours to pursue a life-long interest in art. Through classes and her own determination, Doris became skilled at sculpting, pottery-making, and painting with both watercolors and oils. Doris and Dale enjoyed travel, and her sketchbook was her faithful companion on trips to Alaska, Nova Scotia, Scotland, and her personal favorite, the Desert Southwest. After retiring, in 1986, Doris and Dale moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. There Doris added tap-dance and piano to her repertoire although her modesty made her decline family requests to show off these skills. She was a walking enthusiast, though, and never failed to ask family members to walk with her when they visited.
In 2003 Doris and Dale moved to Scottsbluff, Nebraska. In Scottsbluff, Doris and Dale delivered Meals-on-Wheels for some years. They both loved the library where Doris volunteered repairing books. She also volunteered at Roosevelt School, where she read with a class of first-graders and helped with special projects. One year she sketched each of the children and gave the sketches to their mothers for Mothers’ Day.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Dale Tracy; by her brother, Donald Roy Hopkins, and her parents, Archa and Ethel Hopkins. She is survived by son, Jeff Tracy, of Scottsbluff and his wife Anne Radford; daughter Julia Tracy of Ft. Collins and her husband Owen Henderson; daughter Jean Barton of Richardson, TX and her husband Jim Barton; grandchildren Chris Barton of New York City and Rachel Barton of Richardson, TX; cousins Kay Mairs, Janet Wolf, and Phyllis Miller, all of Kansas.
Doris Maxine Tracy was born December 27, 1929 in Wichita, KS to Archa Roy and Ethel I. Hopkins. She had one brother, Donald Roy. The family lived on a wheat farm and gradually added a dairy during the depression years. It was there that she developed her life-long commitment to use everything to its utmost, and never to waste.
Doris attended elementary school at Richmond Hill, a one-room schoolhouse. She graduated from Clearwater High School, and went on to Kansas State University where she graduated in 1952 with a degree in Home Economics and Retailing. Doris met Dale Tracy when both studied at K State. They married on May 24, 1952 in the same week that Dale graduated in Veterinary Medicine. His practice took them to Ponca, Nebraska where they lived for thirty years and raised their three children. Doris devoted herself to her family, making childhoods memorable and family activities a priority throughout her life. Her beautiful smile was quietly welcoming to all.
After the children left for college Doris found more hours to pursue a life-long interest in art. Through classes and her own determination, Doris became skilled at sculpting, pottery-making, and painting with both watercolors and oils. Doris and Dale enjoyed travel, and her sketchbook was her faithful companion on trips to Alaska, Nova Scotia, Scotland, and her personal favorite, the Desert Southwest. After retiring, in 1986, Doris and Dale moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. There Doris added tap-dance and piano to her repertoire although her modesty made her decline family requests to show off these skills. She was a walking enthusiast, though, and never failed to ask family members to walk with her when they visited.
In 2003 Doris and Dale moved to Scottsbluff, Nebraska. In Scottsbluff, Doris and Dale delivered Meals-on-Wheels for some years. They both loved the library where Doris volunteered repairing books. She also volunteered at Roosevelt School, where she read with a class of first-graders and helped with special projects. One year she sketched each of the children and gave the sketches to their mothers for Mothers’ Day.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Dale Tracy; by her brother, Donald Roy Hopkins, and her parents, Archa and Ethel Hopkins. She is survived by son, Jeff Tracy, of Scottsbluff and his wife Anne Radford; daughter Julia Tracy of Ft. Collins and her husband Owen Henderson; daughter Jean Barton of Richardson, TX and her husband Jim Barton; grandchildren Chris Barton of New York City and Rachel Barton of Richardson, TX; cousins Kay Mairs, Janet Wolf, and Phyllis Miller, all of Kansas.