She met her husband-to-be, William (Bill) Tallon, during World War II in a local pub, after Doris and her sister Lil had been to the movies. Bill and a friend walked them both home and Doris and Bill continued to correspond.
After a proposal of marriage, Doris left her friends and family and came by boat to Canada in April 1947. From there she travelled by train to Winnipeg to meet Bill. She was amazed at seeing snow in April and often told how she had a snowball fight with other “war brides” (although she always insisted she was not one herself) when the train stopped in Montreal.
She was also ecstatic about the white, fluffy bread they were served after having to endure coarse brown war-bread.
Bill and Doris were married on May 3, 1947. They lived in Portage la Prarie with her in-laws for a month and then moved to Winnipeg, where they started a family. First James (Jim) in 1948, then Valerie (Val) in 1952, and finally Beverley (Bev) in 1954.
Doris raised her children at home and took on extra jobs at Eaton’s, the Winnipeg Post Office, and others, to help with the cash flow. She was an excellent seamstress and also knitted lovely clothes for the family. Her culinary skills included traditional English fare, from Sunday roast beef dinners with potatoes, and Yorkshire puddings to Bubble and Squeak. She made delicious bread and buns, pies and other baked goods, and canned fruits and vegetables. She was a “fast-order cook” to anyone who happened to drop by. Almost right up to her death a bowl of soup, sandwiches, or scrambled eggs were ready at the drop of a hat. And, of course, there was always a cup of tea.
Many family camping holidays were taken in Manitoba, western Canada, Ontario, Quebec, and the United States, using first a tent, then a tent-trailer, and finally a hard-top trailer. In 1984, they purchased a permanent trailer near Gimli and spent many enjoyable years there.
Doris loved reading and when the children grew up she started a writing career. She joined a writer’s group and went on to publish many stories and articles in the Winnipeg Free Press, the Real Estate News, local newspapers, and elsewhere. She also wrote poetry, and was featured in a book called Musings by the Silver Plumes, in 1984.
After Bill retired in 1982, they took many enjoyable trips. These included Switzerland, Hawaii, the United Kingdom, New Orleans, and others.
She had a lovely singing voice and later in life, she sang in a choir. She even organized a Christmas carol sing-along at her condominium two years ago.
She loved playing board and card games, especially cribbage.
Wherever she lived, there was a garden. Even on her shady condominium balcony, she managed to grow tomatoes, onions, basil, and flowers.
She greeted her first grandchild Corey Matthews in 1974, then Aaron Tallon in 1975, Heather Matthews in 1978, Lea Tallon in 1986, and Brendan Tallon in 1989.
After fifty-five years of marriage, she was greatly saddened when Bill died in 2002 and her daughter Valerie died in 2006.
She took great delight in her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren: Oona Done-Matthews in 2014, Theo McDowell-Tallon in 2017, Beatrice (Bea) McDowell-Tallon in 2018, and Patrick Done-Matthews in 2018.
After Bill’s death, Doris lived on her own at their house on Cobourg Avenue and then at her condominium on Valhalla Drive, which she moved to in 2012. Her independent lifestyle was very important to her and she tried to do as much as she could on her own. She was an amazing woman who took a great interest in people, nature, and the world around her.
A service will be held in her memory on Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 2:00 pm at Thomson “In the Park” Funeral Home, 1291 McGillivray Boulevard. Interment and a reception will follow.
Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there; I did not die. ~ Mary Elizabeth Frye
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