Doris Margaret Weber

Engaging, curious, and pragmatic, Doris was a living example of the Greatest Generation, born into post WWI America, surviving the Great Depression, WWII, the contrasts of the comfortable Eisenhour and confrontational Vietnam eras, then the relative calm of retirement living. Entering life in Gorin, Missouri, she was the final addition to her family of father George Huff, mother Ruby, and older sisters Edna and Ruth. Upon the separation of her newspaper owner father and dress designing mother in the early '20s, she joined Ruth in moving with her mother to a relative's farm in Chetopa, Kansas, where she first developed her love of nature. Moving afterward to Kansas City, she completed her education at Westport High School during the height of the depression in 1934 and immediately found a job to help pay family rent. For fun, she loved dancing and met her future husband, Raymond Johnston, at Kansas City's Playmor Ballroom. Married in September, 1939, they both found jobs in the new and thriving Riss Trucking Company. Later, Doris moved to a new job at Bruce Brewer Advertising, loving her duties in both creativity, business, and (because she was attractive and always dressed well) modeling. The day after Pearl Harbor, with Doris' support, Raymond volunteered for the Army Air Corps. Doris spent the remainder of the war moving with Raymond until his overseas deployment and then to airbases in the Midwest. On March 9, 1945, Doris gave birth to son James Johnston at her husband's airbase near Coffeyville, Kansas. When the war ended, the couple returned to Kansas City and in 1949 moved to Denver to acquire a business that then went bankrupt. With Ray beginning a career in city government finance, Doris began her own career working in civil service. In the next four decades, Doris held civil service departmental and supervisory positions with the United States Navy, Air Force, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, and other government agencies. Divorced from Raymond, in the 1970s she met and married Robert Weber (Col. USAF Ret.). She retired in the early 1980s. Robert Weber passed in the late 1990s. Doris had a miriad of interests and in addition to her love of adventure, she was practical and knowledgeable about a wide range of topics. Her collection of antique glassware and pottery lit up her living room in three large glass cabinets. She kept pace with Colorado politics and elections. She was a avid traveler to regions unknown in the then 48 states, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, and Canada. She loved nature and the immense variety of life on Earth, along with the outdoors, hiking, and wild flowers. Her curious mind examined and wondered at varied environments from the golf course wildlife outside her window, to mountain grandeur like Colorado's Maroon Bells, her favorite place on the planet. Interested in more than nature, she enjoyed exchanging ideas with friends about their interests. She was proud of her son's vocation as a successful advertising, marketing, and video writer, and his two avocations, auto racing and live theatre. Her support of charities and good works included Denver's famous Wings Over The Rockies air museum and various helping hand organizations. She liked to entertain, even in situations others would deem out of control. One of her favorite stories told of a Christmas party to which she invited more than 100 people. She reasoned that, though the guest list was long, many would be unable to attend. So her plan was to encourage a small steady flow of visitors from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve. As she laughingly said later, her plan failed. All of the invitees appeared within 20 minutes of each other. Every square foot in the three-bedroom home was crammed with partygoers enjoying themselves. She stayed in her kitchen preparing food during the entire festivity, while husband Ray filled glasses. It lasted until 2 a.m. when the remaining two guests, city officials who had been leg wrestling in the living room, decided to go home. This was not the only event in which a good time was had by all under her roof. While Doris delighted in the unpredictability of others, about herself she was pragmatic. At age 75, explaining that she didn't want to blemish her perfect driving record, she willingly put away her car keys. When the time came to move into a senior living community, she welcomed it. Someone who knew her well noted that, if she could have chosen her way of passing, ""Doris would have preferred to be thrown from a bucking bronco."" Doris is survived by her son James of Aurora and two nephews, William and Robert Dunning, of Kansas City. She will be greatly missed. She was a light in the tunnel of life.