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Greetings Federation family and friends,<br><br>
Curtis Willoughby gave me permission to distribute this information about
Doris Willoughby’s obituary and service details.<br><br>
Attached and following is the obituary, and below it is the Zoom
invitation for the Celebration of Life service.<br><br>
<br><br>
Doris Willoughby <br><br>
Doris Mellott Koerner Willoughby was born on June 29, 1936, in Easton,
PA, and died on <br><br>
September 8, 2021, in Lakewood, CO. She moved to Boulder, CO, with her
family when she was <br><br>
11 and graduated from Boulder High School as class valedictorian in 1953.
She earned a <br><br>
bachelor’s degree in education from Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA, in
1957 and taught second <br><br>
grade in Cedar Rapids for 11 years. She met her husband D. Curtis
Willoughby in 1966. They <br><br>
were married on June 24, 1967, in Cedar Rapids, IA, and honeymooned in
Clear Lake, IA, Los <br><br>
Angeles, and Hawaii. The event in Los Angeles was the national convention
of the National <br><br>
Federation of the Blind, the first of over fifty NFB conventions for
Doris. <br><br>
From the time they met, Doris became a driver and reader assistant for
Curtis. Since he was an <br><br>
electrical engineer, perhaps the first blind electrical engineer in the
country, and most of the <br><br>
material he wanted to read was technical, Doris's assistance was
extremely valuable. <br><br>
During the school year 1966/7, Judy Young, a young blind woman, was
seeking a degree in <br><br>
elementary education from the State University of Iowa, but the
University had difficulty finding <br><br>
a place for her to do her student teaching. Doris volunteered to be the
supervising teacher and <br><br>
enjoyed the opportunity to work with Judy. Together they found techniques
to make Judy an <br><br>
excellent teacher. Doris received her certification in the teaching of
blind children in 1969 after <br><br>
studying during the summers and evenings and then began teaching blind
children. <br><br>
The Willoughbys moved to Des Moines in 1972, and Doris taught blind
children there until <br><br>
1993. Curtis was often asked to work on electrical and telephone
equipment at the Iowa <br><br>
Commission for the Blind, and Doris often assisted. Shortly after they
were married, she said <br><br>
with a smile, "I married an electric wire." <br><br>
In 1990, she received her ham radio operator's license. Her husband,
mother and sisters have all <br><br>
been hams. Doris continued to work with Curtis on many projects for
nearly 30 years. <br><br>
Doris was an active member of the United Methodist Church and invited
Curtis to join. They <br><br>
continued in this denomination in Des Moines and in Colorado. <br><br>
The Willoughbys moved to the Denver area in 1993, and Doris received a
master’s degree from <br><br>
the University of Northern Colorado soon after that. Doris taught blind
children in the Adams 12 <br><br>
School District near Denver. She later taught blind adults at the
Colorado Training Center for <br><br>
the Blind, where she helped students prepare for citizenship and the GED
test, among other <br><br>
things. <br><br>
Doris was a pioneer and leader in the education of blind children for at
least 4 decades and wrote <br><br>
or co-authored 4 books on that subject. At its 50th anniversary
convention, the National <br><br>
Federation of the Blind honored Doris with its highest award in
education: the Distinguished <br><br>
Teacher of Blind Children Award. <br><br>
Doris was soft-spoken, kind, generous, creative, and hardworking. She was
preceded in death by <br><br>
her parents Margaret and Harold Koerner. She is survived by her husband
and her sisters <br><br>
(Margery Herrington of Pueblo, CO, and Marian Lord of Omaha, NE). There
are 6 nephews and <br><br>
nieces and 9 great nephews and nieces. <br><br>
Doris was an important part of the Willoughby and Koerner families, her
church congregations, <br><br>
the NFB, and her communities and will be missed by all. A celebration of
Doris’s life will occur <br><br>
at 1:00 pm on Sept. 18, 2021, at the Wheatridge United Methodist Church
in Wheatridge, CO. <br><br>
Memorial donations may be made to the National Federation of the Blind or
the Wheat Ridge <br><br>
United Methodist Church.<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
WheatRidge UMC is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.<br><br>
<br><br>
Topic: Doris Willoughby Service<br><br>
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)<br><br>
<br><br>
Join Zoom Meeting<br><br>
<a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87027962218?pwd=3DOG5IYmpGQ1J0aUxVUTF5dDhkNWs4dz09">
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87027962218?pwd=3DOG5IYmpGQ1J0aUxVUTF5dDhkNWs4dz09</a>
<br><br>
<br><br>
Meeting ID: 870 2796 2218<br><br>
Passcode: 582683<br><br>
One tap mobile<br><br>
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Passcode: 582683<br><br>
Find your local number:
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<br><br>
At your service,<br><br>
<br><br>
Maryann Migliorelli<br>
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