Doris L. Beattie's Obituary
Doris Louise Beattie was born May 15, 1932, in Saginaw, Michigan to Martha and Charles Thorsby and was later raised by her stepfather Jim Rivet. She had three older brothers, one deceased at a young age and many nieces and nephews. She often babysat her oldest brother’s four children. Doris passed away at the age of 91 on December 8, 2023 at Angela Hospice, Livonia, Michigan.
As a young girl she grew up in Saginaw, Ferndale, Royal Oak and settled in Madison Heights for most of her school days. Some of her favorite things were to play dolls with her baby buggy and riding her bicycle. One memory she has is of her older brother Charles taking a wagon with buckets down to the Saginaw River to get water for cooking and doing dishes. She said it was difficult getting the water back to the house. She took lunch in a tin box and walked on dirt roads and took buses to school, movies, into town and to work.
As a young teenager she sang in the school and church choir, loved to go indoor roller skating and played the piano, including classical, jazz, ragtime and the big bands like Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey. Her high school senior trip was to Niagara Falls which she said was a real good time.
She married William Beattie in 1957. Once married she did the wash with a ringer washer machine, cooked a delicious roast beef, sewed, and hemmed clothes, crocheted Afghans for many people including her family, grew tomatoes, and was the typical homemaker of her time. She loved singing, baking cookies and always playing the piano in the evenings. She was the hot dog mom at school, girl scout helper and chaperone for school events including a trip to Disney with Janet’s high school marching band. She took great care of her family and kept traditions and made sure her children had many memories.
She worked at Cunningham drug store, the dry cleaners in Birmingham, a women's factory making buffing wheels for cars. Her oldest brother Charles got her a job at an insurance company as a typist, that led to getting a job at General Motors as a secretary until she had her children. When her children were in school, she worked in the office at the United Methodist Church and then later at Beaumont Hospital working in the X-ray department for 10 years. She made lots of friends at all her jobs and continued to keep in touch with them. She remained in touch with her school buddies Mary and Sara all her life.
Some of her favorite movies were musicals, love stories, cowboy movies, and game shows.
Doris was fiercely independent as she was a survivor and pushed her daughters to be self-reliant as well. She had a sense of humor, loved to laugh, and had a good heart.
Beloved Wife of the late William Beattie. Dear Mother of Lori (Kurt) Taylor and Janet (the late David) Adamczyk. Loving grandmother of Jenna (Kyle) Robinson , Rachel (Joshua) Kearney, Nikolaas Adamczyk and Sarah (Ethan Hunt) Adamczyk. Great-Grandmother of Noah, Liam, Sophia and Tulip.
Visitation will be held on Monday, December 11th from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm with the Funeral Service to be held on Tuesday, December 12th at 9:30 am at Hopcroft Funeral Home, 31145 John R. Road, (1 block N. of 13 Mile Road, west side of John R. Road), Madison Heights, Michigan. Entombment will take place at Oakview Cemetery, Royal Oak, Michigan.
In Lieu of Flowers, donations may be made to Parkinson Foundation of Michigan.
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