[Colorado-Talk] Doris Willoughby obituary and service details

Thu Sep 16 23:42:54 UTC 2021

Thank you for sharing this. There is so much that I did not know about Doris. May she rest in peace.

Melissa Fishburn

Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 16, 2021, at 1:23 PM, Maryann Migliorelli via Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Greetings Federation family and friends,
> Curtis Willoughby gave me permission to distribute this information about Doris Willoughby’s obituary and service details.
> Attached and following is the obituary, and below it is the Zoom invitation for the Celebration of Life service.
>  
> Doris Willoughby
> Doris Mellott Koerner Willoughby was born on June 29, 1936, in Easton, PA, and died on
> September 8, 2021, in Lakewood, CO. She moved to Boulder, CO, with her family when she was
> 11 and graduated from Boulder High School as class valedictorian in 1953. She earned a
> bachelor’s degree in education from Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA, in 1957 and taught second
> grade in Cedar Rapids for 11 years. She met her husband D. Curtis Willoughby in 1966. They
> were married on June 24, 1967, in Cedar Rapids, IA, and honeymooned in Clear Lake, IA, Los
> Angeles, and Hawaii. The event in Los Angeles was the national convention of the National
> Federation of the Blind, the first of over fifty NFB conventions for Doris.
> From the time they met, Doris became a driver and reader assistant for Curtis. Since he was an
> electrical engineer, perhaps the first blind electrical engineer in the country, and most of the
> material he wanted to read was technical, Doris's assistance was extremely valuable.
> During the school year 1966/7, Judy Young, a young blind woman, was seeking a degree in
> elementary education from the State University of Iowa, but the University had difficulty finding
> a place for her to do her student teaching. Doris volunteered to be the supervising teacher and
> enjoyed the opportunity to work with Judy. Together they found techniques to make Judy an
> excellent teacher. Doris received her certification in the teaching of blind children in 1969 after
> studying during the summers and evenings and then began teaching blind children.
> The Willoughbys moved to Des Moines in 1972, and Doris taught blind children there until
> 1993. Curtis was often asked to work on electrical and telephone equipment at the Iowa
> Commission for the Blind, and Doris often assisted. Shortly after they were married, she said
> with a smile, "I married an electric wire."
> In 1990, she received her ham radio operator's license. Her husband, mother and sisters have all
> been hams. Doris continued to work with Curtis on many projects for nearly 30 years.
> Doris was an active member of the United Methodist Church and invited Curtis to join. They
> continued in this denomination in Des Moines and in Colorado.
> The Willoughbys moved to the Denver area in 1993, and Doris received a master’s degree from
> the University of Northern Colorado soon after that. Doris taught blind children in the Adams 12
> School District near Denver. She later taught blind adults at the Colorado Training Center for
> the Blind, where she helped students prepare for citizenship and the GED test, among other
> things.
> Doris was a pioneer and leader in the education of blind children for at least 4 decades and wrote
> or co-authored 4 books on that subject. At its 50th anniversary convention, the National
> Federation of the Blind honored Doris with its highest award in education: the Distinguished
> Teacher of Blind Children Award.
> Doris was soft-spoken, kind, generous, creative, and hardworking. She was preceded in death by
> her parents Margaret and Harold Koerner. She is survived by her husband and her sisters
> (Margery Herrington of Pueblo, CO, and Marian Lord of Omaha, NE). There are 6 nephews and
> nieces and 9 great nephews and nieces.
> Doris was an important part of the Willoughby and Koerner families, her church congregations,
> the NFB, and her communities and will be missed by all. A celebration of Doris’s life will occur
> at 1:00 pm on Sept. 18, 2021, at the Wheatridge United Methodist Church in Wheatridge, CO.
> Memorial donations may be made to the National Federation of the Blind or the Wheat Ridge
> United Methodist Church.
>  
>  
> WheatRidge UMC is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
>  
> Topic: Doris Willoughby Service
> Time: Sep 18, 2021 12:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Service begins: Sep 18, 2021 1:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
>  
> Join Zoom Meeting
> https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87027962218?pwd=3DOG5IYmpGQ1J0aUxVUTF5dDhkNWs4dz09
>  
> Meeting ID: 870 2796 2218
> Passcode: 582683
> One tap mobile
> +16699006833,,87027962218#,,,,*582683# US (San Jose)
> +12532158782,,87027962218#,,,,*582683# US (Tacoma)
>  
> Dial by your location
> +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
> +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
> +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
> +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
> +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
> +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
> +1 720 707 2699 US (Denver)
> Meeting ID: 870 2796 2218
> Passcode: 582683
> Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kiw675spZ
>  
> At your service,
>  
> Maryann Migliorelli
>  
> <laura2-210913.pdf>
> _______________________________________________
> Colorado-Talk mailing list
> Colorado-Talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Colorado-Talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org/go.melsue%40gmail.com
> List archives can be found at <http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20210916/d3a34267/attachment.html>