Helen Doris Foster

Helen Doris Clark Foster was born on March 25, 1923, in Goforth, Texas, and passed away on September 4, 2026, at the age of 103. She was the daughter of Samuel Jackson Clark and Ida Bell Smith Clark, and the youngest of their seven children. She is survived by her five children – Ida Jane Edwards, Nancy Gayle Palmer, Raymond Woodward Foster, Jr., Stephen Wayne Foster, and Terri Lynn Robertson. She has 13 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and 4 great-great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond Woodward Foster, Sr.; her parents, Samuel and Ida; her siblings Otis, Clifton, Cecil, Preston, Alma, and Dorothy. She inherited good genes – her brother, Cecil, passed away at age 103, and her sister, Dot, passed away at 102.

Goforth, a town consisting of a church and a school, was about 15 miles south of Buda. She graduated at the age of 16, since there were only 11 grades total at that time in Texas. During her school years, she recalls picking cotton in the summer, riding on the truck to the cotton gin in Buda and playing volleyball wearing a long skirt.

After graduation, Doris babysat for a teacher in Buda and eventually moved to Austin, where she did more babysitting. She eventually got a job as an elevator operator in the Norwood Building at the corner of 8th and Guadalupe, that until the 1960s, was the tallest building in Austin (14 floors). She later got a job with the Retail Merchants Association in the Tower.

Later, Doris took a job as a waitress at a restaurant on Guadalupe, north of the University of Texas campus. This is where she met Papa. One time, he asked her to let him drive her home, and a romance began. After a short courtship, they were married in 1942 and lived off West 6th Street. Doris was also baptized that same year.

While Raymond was moving around in his career, they both also managed to raise five children. Doris would make breakfast for the kids each morning before school. She, along with her mother, were both skilled at making clothes for the kids. They could easily recreate a dress by taking a picture of one at the department store and making their own sewing pattern based off that picture. Doris also faithfully attended her sons’ baseball games and made sure they all were at church on Sunday.

Doris was known as the queen of hospitality. They welcomed new people from church to their home for a meal or to spend the night. Family and guests were invited to stay and enjoy a delicious home cooked meal, like her famous tacos. Gatherings were paired with good conversation, laughter, a swim in the pool, or even a Longhorn football game on tv, a favored event for Doris.

Doris and Raymond always made their home available for Bible studies, dinners, showers, baptisms, and birthday parties. For years, Doris was busy nearly every day helping people by taking them to their doctor, doing their shopping, staying with them when they were sick, taking them food, visiting them in the hospital, and even cleaning their house.

“If you can get it done today, why wait?” Doris was not a procrastinator. She didn’t have time to worry about anything; she “had rats to kill”. If something needed to be done, it was done right then. If there was somewhere she needed to be, she was ready to leave an hour before she needed to be there, dressed to the nines. If she was behind the wheel, Doris wasn’t afraid to drive fast. Just like with Raymond/Papa, speeding was a gift. Doris may have been witnessed by the brother of a family member speeding through a local HEB parking lot - allegedly.

As a grandmother, Meme was loving and generous. Her grandkids would love sitting next to her at church or spending the night with her. She was always willing to scratch backs or hands, which would immediately make the grandchildren calm and sleepy. Doris hosted many sleepovers with pallets on the floor made from Grandma Clark’s quilts for anyone who wanted to stay. She never seemed to mind when her grandkids asked her to play the game Mastermind for hours on end. Doris also loved to play Dominoes and would sit at the table for hours, smoothly shuffling the Dominoes between games. She was ever patient and present in the moment with them. A grandkid home for the weekend from college was never left without a little gas money in hand for the journey back to school, a practice she continued after Raymond passed.

Meme enjoyed having so much life and joy surrounding her. When the grandkids started having their own children, she loved holding her great grand babies. She moved a crib into her bedroom just for the little ones to sleep. For some reason they could sleep for hours in her room.

Doris was love and home to everyone she met. She shared the unconditional love of Christ and left an inspirational example for all to follow.

Family and friends are invited to a visitation to be held on Friday, September 11, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home in Pflugerville.