Doris Anne Duncan

Doris Anne Duncan (Proctor) slipped from this life into the arms of the Lord on September 4, 2021 surrounded by her family.

Doris Anne was born August 23, 1931 to Namond (Ray) and Joyce Proctor in Renton, Washington and was the middle of three daughters. Her formative years were spent in small towns throughout the northern Puget Sound as the family followed her father’s logging jobs. After finishing high school in Startup, she attended the University of Washington and graduated in 1953 with a bachelor’s in education and as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honors society.

During her final year at UW, she became acquainted with Herbert Duncan, a handsome army sergeant engaged to her roommate. After this relationship with his fiancée ran its course, Herb asked Doris Anne on a date via valentine in February 1953. They were married August 28, 1954 in Sultan and moved to Centralia where she took a first-grade teaching position.

Doris Anne always had a passion for teaching young children. She spent 26 years teaching grades kindergarten through second grade throughout western Washington, even while raising three daughters, Kathryn, Sara, and Jennifer. The family settled in Kent in 1966, where Doris Anne taught until her and Herb’s retirement in 1991. On the weekends, she taught Sunday school at Faith Baptist Church and later Jovita Baptist Church, sharing her love of the Lord with hundreds of children over the years.

In 1993, Doris Anne and Herb bought a home on an acre in Edgewood where she fully embraced in her hobbies of gardening, refinishing furniture, traveling, and serving at church. Most of all, she enjoyed time with grandchildren, spoiling them with experiences from roller skating to Northwest Trek and teaching them how to care for God’s living things.

She will be lovingly remembered by Herb, her husband of 67 years, her daughters Kathryn Johnson (Wes), Sara Paz (Sonny), Jennifer Duncan-Taylor (Dennis), granddaughter Alexandra Paz Cody (Carr), grandson Avery Paz, as well as many nieces, nephews, and friends.

Doris Anne’s memorial will be held at Highland Hill Community Church in Tacoma on Saturday September 18th at 1pm. She will be interred later this month at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, WA.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Seattle Children’s Hospital.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Doris Anne Duncan, please visit our floral store.