Doris Agnes Pearsall

Doris Agnes (Powers) Pearsall

Doris was born July 27th, 1932, at Tacoma General Hospital to the parents Arthur and Ellen Powers. 

Her early childhood was golden, surrounded by her extended Scots-Irish immigrant family on then bustling McKinley Hill. Just steps from her house, across the alley, was her grandparents' home where the teapot at the center of the table was the hub of her lively family. Steps from there took her to the busy McKinley Hill business district with many Mom and Pop grocery stores, bakeries, Five and Dime store, clothing store, beauty salon, the Park Movie theater (now the VFW hall) and a very special place, "The Hill" ice cream shop. She attended McKinley Elementary School where she met her dear, lifelong friend Phyllis (Christensen) Atkins (1933-2021). 

In 1943, she moved to Puyallup with her parents and sister to a then isolated farmhouse on 25 acres. The house still stands today across the street from the South Hill Mall. She graduated from Puyallup High school in 1950 but spent her summers at her grandparents' home on McKinley Hill. In the summer of '47, while working at The Hill ice cream shop, she met the love of her life, Richard (Dick) Pearsall. He spilled his milkshake. She handed him a mop. It was magic.

They married in 1950, made a home on her beloved McKinley Hill and she never left the Hill again.

Doris worked at Payless drugstore and then Puget Sound Bank until the birth of their first son when she became a full-time homemaker. She and Dick built their family home of 63 years alongside the family business, Pearsall Floral Company (1936-1986). There, they raised their three children surrounded by extended family and gave them a childhood (and adulthood) that was golden.

Full circle, Doris passed April 16th, 2024, from Tacoma General Hospital.

Doris is survived by: her beloved husband of 73 years, Richard; sister Violet; three children, Ron, Gary and Denise; eleven grandchildren, Patti, Melissa, David, Lisa, Kelli, Jonathan, Kandace, Dean, Ronny, Roxanne, Ozzy; ten great grandchildren (several who still raid great Grandma's goodie basket), Daniel, Ashtin, Tyler, Mylie, Kinzly, Lillian, Charlotte, Weldon, Lucy and Leo. 

In accordance with Doris' wishes, a private burial took place on April 29, 2024, at Woodbine Cemetery. 

She is deeply missed and forever in our hearts...

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