Doris Eloise “Dot” Gamble DeJean, a resident of Chickasaw, Alabama for the past 61 years, passed away peacefully in her home on February 11, 2025, after a lengthy illness, with her daughter, Jon Cherie DeJean, and her faithful caregiver, Hazel Morgan, by her side. She was 102 years and 5 months of age.
Doris was born on September 3, 1922, and was raised by a loving family in the small town of Cotton Valley, Louisiana. She was a premature baby at birth, weighing in at 3.5 pounds, so tiny that they had to keep her in a shoebox. This was the beginning of her growing into the survivor that she became, and the start of her long and amazing life.
On her first day of school, Doris decided to jump out of the window of the school building, go down to her family’s car, and wait for her mother to take her home. Not a stellar start, but years later she graduated from Cotton Valley High School. In 1942, Doris graduated from Dodd College in Shreveport, Louisiana, where she was a Denominational Representative (Methodist) for the Religious Council, a member of the Home Economics Club, and a member of Sigma Iota Chi Sorority, Beta Beta Chapter.
In her early 20s, while attending Norton’s Business School in Shreveport, Louisiana, her father became ill, and she had to return home to help with the family business, Gamble Pharmacy. After he passed, she had the responsibility of caring for her mother who became severely ill with cancer. During this time, and for several years after her mother passed, she cared for her special needs little sister, Nancy, who she loved as if she were her very own child.
In 1943, Charles DeJean came into her life, and it was love at first sight. He saw her at work one day at Premiere Oil Refinery in Cotton Valley and said, “I am going to marry that girl!” And he did that very thing on September 20, 1944, in Shreveport, Louisiana.
They started their married life in Minden, Louisiana, and after a short stay in San Angelo, Texas, the family moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. In 1948, they opened an Easy Orange “soft drink” franchise. Charles later was offered a position with A. W. Williams in Alabama, and the family eventually relocated to Chickasaw, Alabama. This became their final family home, and Doris and Charles spent over 44 loving years together.
Doris’ life was dedicated to providing for her family and to the raising of her children, Sandra and Jon. She was a kind and loving mother, and saw to it that they were given every opportunity to succeed in life. She also loved her grandchildren and great-grandchildren with the same depth. Likewise, if anyone outside of her family was found to be in need, she always offered kind and supportive assistance. Always the cheerful helper, she spent several years working in children’s Sunday School classes at her church.
Doris was generous, beautiful, funny, and her bubbly laugh was immediately contagious. She was classic and timeless in her style, had the most incredibly beautiful penmanship, and was a bit of a perfectionist. Doris’ extraordinary culinary skills were recognized in the 1964 Mobile Gas Blue Flame Cake Bake, where she was awarded the overall prize for her Fresh Coconut Cake. Her winnings consisted of a modern kitchen full of brand new appliances for her new home.
Doris loved and respected nature, being out in it, and enjoyed doing yard work. She loved watching the cardinals and hummingbirds at her window, laughed at the squirrels’ antics on the “squirrel proof” bird feeder, and delighted in the little box turtles (“Shelby,” in particular) that would come to her patio door in warmer weather for their daily lunch of mealworms. Doris transmitted this love of the natural world to her daughter, Jon.
She also adored her sweet kitties that she had down through the years, her current companions being Frida and Oscar, who will miss her dearly.
Doris is preceded in death by: her husband, Charles Elwood DeJean; her daughter, Sandra Elizabeth DeJean Patterson; her parents, Ardis Jerome Gamble and Eunice Vashti Keoun Gamble; her sisters, Virginia Helen Gamble and Nancy Christine Gamble; and her brother, Ardis James Gamble, Sr.
She is survived by: her loving daughter and faithful caregiver for the past 20 years, Jon Cherie DeJean (Lourdes Lasarte-Arangoa) of Chickasaw, AL; her three grandchildren, Deidra Lynne “Dee Dee” Patterson Munro of Ocean Springs, MS, Brian Michael Patterson (Jana) of Biloxi, MS, and Lori Michele Patterson Moresi (Lance) of Pineville, LA; her seven great-grandchildren, Ana Elizabeth Moresi Cyr (Ben), Benjamin Reed Moresi, Samuel Chas Moresi, Grace Elizabeth Munro Warnick (Ryan), Lillian Falls Munro, Brian Thomas Patterson, and Ava Lynn Patterson; her great-great-granddaughter, Eloise Katherine Cyr; her niece and nephews, Priscilla Louise Gamble Shoulders (Dave), Ardis James Gamble, Jr. (Nancy), and Michael Lewis Oatman (Lisa).
A very special and heartfelt thank you is extended to Doris’ wonderful personal caregivers: Hazel Morgan, Rose Steen, Patsy Davis, Glenda Walters, and Verna Jean “Sissy” Criswell. Also, sincere appreciation and gratitude go out to Gentiva Hospice staff, Lana Whitehead and Dorene Curry, who cared for her for eight and a half years. Your exceptional care made all of the difference in Doris’s quality of life.
Visitation will be held on February 20, 2025, at Radney Funeral Home, located at 3155 Dauphin Street in Mobile, AL, from 2:00pm - 3:00pm, followed by a graveside service and interment beginning at 3:30pm at Mobile Memorial Gardens (Garden of the Apostles), located at 6100 Three Notch Road, Mobile, Alabama. Radney Funeral Home on Dauphin Street in Mobile, AL is in charge of all arrangements. Condolences may be offered at www.radneyfuneralhome-mobile.com.
