Doris Louise Balsmeyer

We celebrate the life of our mother, Doris Louise Balsmeyer, who passed away after a brief battle with renal cancer on February 20th, 2025, at Brookdale Senior Living in Lakeway, Texas. She was 97 years old and made the most of every minute. She had a brilliant, infectious, irrepressible spark and joy for life that lit up the whole world for us.

Born and raised in Peoria, Illinois, she was the tomboy younger sister of two brothers, Russ and Jerry. She blossomed into a radiant teen with tons of ‘gumption,’ then took off for sunny California, where she worked for State Farm Insurance, fell in love with our dad, a dashing, young, ex-GI management professional, and together they raised our family in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Over the years she worked as a secretary at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California, then moved up to Executive Secretary at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in Whittier, California, and VHA West in Pasadena and Marina Del Rey, California.

Smart as a whip, our mom always wanted to go to college, so after we kids left the nest she went to UCLA to study archaeology, then spent years traveling around the world with our dad to work at archaeological digs in Israel, Mexico, and Guatemala, as well as Chumash Indigenous sites in California.

Doris was a devout Christian, extremely active at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Hacienda Heights, California and later at San Marcos Lutheran in San Marcos, California. She will be buried with our father at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California. Mom was really looking forward to reuniting with our dad in Heaven.

Doris, or Dory as she liked to be known, was the first of her family to leave Peoria. She created a whole new life for herself and her family, filled with great heart and soul. We love her so incredibly much, and we’ll carry her dazzling spark like a torch for generations to come.

Doris is survived by her children Randall Balsmeyer and partner, Sanun Pojan; Jeff Balsmeyer and wife, Lynn-Maree Danzey; Gayle Cantrell and husband, David Cantrell; grandchildren Louise Black, Hope Balsmeyer, Tiger Balsmeyer, Gavin Cantrell, Sarah Cantrell; and great-grandson Stellan Black.

Doris was predeceased by her husband, Richard Herbert Balsmeyer; parents, Edward Sammis and Louise Sammis (née Kroepel); and brothers, Russell and Gerald Sammis. She leaves us a legacy of love.