Doris Key

Doris Key passed away at home, peacefully, on December 31, 2015. She was born Doris Kathleen Jones on December 13, 1921, the eldest daughter of Lena Morris Jones and Ralph Fulton Jones, who farmed near Osceola, Iowa. She attended the Osceola high school, staying in a boarding house in town. After graduating from Central College in Pella, Iowa, she was a teacher in a one-room rural school. Later, she attended the nursing school at the University of Iowa, where she met and married Sam N. Key, Jr., M.D. In 1946, they and their infant son, Sam, III, moved to her husband's hometown, Austin, Texas. Their daughter, Sarah Nancy, was born in 1949. During the Korean War, the family lived in Biloxi, Mississippi, while Dr. Key served as a captain in the United States Air Force. In 1952, they returned to Austin.

Doris maintained her household without help, encouraging her children's education and providing them with a loving, wonderful childhood. She made time to volunteer at the surgical desk of the old Seton Hospital; to be a Cub Scout den mother and Brownie leader; to teach children's Sunday School classes; and (along with good friends in the United Methodist Women and the Dorcas Sunday School class at Tarrytown United Methodist Church) to volunteer for Reading is Fundamental, Friendship Center at Montopolis, Blackshear Elementary School, the Austin State School (now called Austin State Supported Living Center) and nursing homes.

Her passing follows that of her parents, her husband, her sister, and her daughter. She is survived by her son.

Graveside services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 2, 2016 at Austin Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to Tarrytown United Methodist Church or to the charity of one's choice.