Doris Terry
Published 12:00 am Sunday, April 5, 2009
Doris Chambers Terry was born on June 12, 1925 in the little town of Brundidge, Alabama to the parents of Mary Will and Robert Chambers.
Doris was the younger sister of Madolyn C. Clipson and they all lived in Troy, Alabama. Back then Troy was a small town.
Troy State Teachers College was established in 1930 and grew to be Troy State University. But during her early years, Troy was a very small town. And, Doris had a larger vision of her world. Right before WW2, she was just out of high school.
She’d lived in Boston for a few months and learned the excitement of a big city. Not long after returning to Troy, Doris met a man in an Air Force Uniform who played guitar in a rock band, like Evis Presley. Doris worked as a Volunteer at the Veterans Administration.
Doris Chambers married James W. Terry in 1945 and they had one son named David in 1950. During those five years, Doris helped Jim get through Vanderbilt and earn a civil engineering degree. “Terry”, as he was called, played guitar and sang on the weekends. When Jim Terry was hired up by Mobil Oil, the three of them spent their lives traveling all over the world in search of oil which Terry believed would provide a stable income.
Doris, Jim and David lived in over 28 places during the next twenty-five years. Oil was being discovered all over Texas, California, Alaska, Alberta, Nigeria and the North Sea.
The Terry family moved, lived and moved to numerous places within these area. They lived in Den Haag, Holland, Darien, Conn., Whittier, California, Dallas and Houston, Texas, and Sandestin, Florida, to name a few of the highlights. All the while, Jim Terry played the guitar and sang. Doris sang along and when David was old enough, he learned to play the drums. The trio would move into a town meeting people everywhere. They’d play music and have as much fun as possible and then pack up and move somewhere else.
When Jim went to work, Doris and David spent most of their free time traveling around and seeing the world. It was the best education she could ever provide for herself and her son. But, as early as 1965, Jim Terry saw the end of the oil industry rapidly approaching. He wanted to be in a stable environment when things begun to get nasty.
In 1981, Jim Terry retired. Son, David, was living in Hawaii working in the Media Industry.
Doris and Jim moved back to Troy to re-establish Doris’s roots with her mother, Mary Will Adams. They moved into her mother’s home on College St. Just after Mary Will died, they sold the house and moved to Sandestin, Florida, which was then, a small retirement community.
In 1995, the Terry’s purchased a plot of land in Sandestin and in 1998; the retirement community was set to become the largest resort in NW Florida.
Doris and Jim built their retirement home on a dirt road surrounded by pines, alligators and snakes. But by 2000, the world was in the midst of change and Doris and Jim were exactly where they wanted to finish their life. Skyrockets exploded in Sandestin, the roads were paved and people flocked to the new Mecca of NW Florida. Jim Terry died in 2004. The economy began to falter. Doris’s sister, Madolyn, passed on during December of 2008. Doris passed in her home on March 28, at 12:18pm. Her only son, and best friend, David, along with her sister’s daughter, Cathy, were at her side until the end. Doris Terry leaves a history of good times, great friends all over the world, and being known as one of the nicest people you could ever meet.
Funeral will be held at Destin Cemetery in Destin, Fla. On Stahlman Avenue. At 11 a.m. April 11, 2009 under the direction of McLaughlin Mortuary.
A reception will be held at 1 p.m. April 11 at 1510 Island Green Sanddestin, Fla.