Doris Montgomery died in Eureka on December 20, 2019, at the age of 96.  

Doris was born in Sacramento on November 12, 1923 to Helen and Hamilton Davidson.  After completion of her AA degree at Sacramento City College, she decided to move to San Francisco, much to the chagrin of her mother!  She enjoyed being a fellow “Sackamenna Kid” with Herb Caen, who also struck out for the excitement of San Francisco before the end of World War II, and who wrote his column in the San Francisco Chronicle for many decades.  Doris was an avid blood donor during the war effort, donating literally dozens of gallons, as she was type O negative, a universal donor.  She worked for the Pacific Stock Exchange, and she loved the excitement of being in the middle of the action!  She became a very astute investor, and she enjoyed following the stock markets for her whole adult life, waking at 4 a.m. for many years to hear the Asian stock report on her radio by her bed.  She was also a lover of the outdoors, the ocean, hiking, and wildlife and all animals.

Doris and Tom married in Sacramento in 1947, while Tom was a law student at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.  Doris had a nice apartment in San Francisco, and apartments were hard to come by shortly after the end of World War II, and Tom always joked that one of the reasons he married Doris was because he got to move into the apartment!  They moved to Humboldt County in 1955, and Doris worked as a legal secretary for many years for Mitchell, Dedekam & Angell, until Tom was appointed as a Superior Court judge in 1968.  They had a wonderful life together, retiring to Trinidad in 1974.  They took many trips all over the world, and celebrated their 71st anniversary in 2018.  Doris and Tom established and endowed the Montgomery Scholarship to help deserving students at Humboldt State University, and they have helped many students over the years to obtain their education.  In May of 2018, Doris was very excited to celebrate Tom’s 100th birthday at a wonderful gathering at the Courthouse, which was organized by Judges John Feeney and Joyce Hinrichs, and Jeremiah Scott, Esq.

Doris and her childhood friend Carol Nicholson were great friends for practically ninety years, having grown up together in Sacramento.  She also enjoyed walking with her good friend and neighbor Jenny Cranston along Stagecoach Road.  Tom and Doris considered themselves very lucky to have such nice neighbors who gave them a real sense of community.

Surviving Doris are her son Tom of Spokane; her daughter Jane and her husband Richard Spini of Arcata; grandchildren Jaimie Blanton (Adam) and their three children; David and Melanie Montgomery, and Anne and Maggie Spini.  Doris was predeceased by her husband Tom in March of 2019, and by her son Stephen.  As she was the only child of two only children, there are no extended relatives.

The family wishes to extend sincere gratitude to Frye’s Care Home and to Hospice of Humboldt for their kind and compassionate care of Doris.  We are so lucky to them in our community.

At Doris’s request, there will be no service.  We will all miss her quick wit, kindness, and great sense of humor.