Obituary: Doris Evelyn Grimes

Doris was born Aug. 18, 1929, to Bruce Fenner Sharp and Edna Arlene Thornton Sharp, in Winter Garden. She was predeceased by both.

She married Hugh Orville Grimes on Oct. 25, 1946, and they had a loving marriage of 61-and-one-half years, before Hugh’s death on May 9, 2008.

Doris is also predeceased by brothers, Bruce Freeman Sharp and Donald Thornton Sharp; and by an infant sister (name unknown).

She is survived by daughter, Dorilyn Grimes Pazera (Lee), of Winter Garden; son, Gary Lee Grimes, of Cleveland, Tenn.; son, Timothy Bruce Grimes (Lori), of Anson, Maine; sister, Rose Marie Sharp Lindsey (Gene), of Cullman, Ala.; seven grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild; as well as several cousins, nieces and nephews.

Doris was a lifelong resident of the West Orange area, with the exception of the years between 1953 and 1957, when husband, Hugh, decided to go to college with his wife and two children in tow.

They first moved to Montgomery, Ala., where Hugh attended Alabama Christian College, while Doris was the supervisor of the girls dormitory on campus and continued her role as mother to Dorilyn and Gary. After Hugh graduated from that college, they moved to Nashville, Tenn., where her husband attended David Lipscomb College and obtained his bachelor’s degree in math and English. They lived in U.S. Army barracks on campus that had been refurbished as apartments for married students and their families.

Doris continued her role as a mother while also serving as postmistress for the campus post office, as well as working at a Bible bookstore. Her daughter recalls that her mother was unofficially considered to have earned her “PHT” degree (putting hubby through) during the family’s time with Hugh at college. Third child, Timothy, was born in Nashville prior to Hugh’s graduation in 1957.

Following the college years, they moved back to Winter Garden, where they continued to live until death.

Before her husband’s college years, she became a real estate agent at age 21, a mostly male-monopolized field of work. She worked with her father-in-law, Lee A. Grimes (the firm now known as L.A. Grimes Agency Realtors and currently operated by her brother-in-law, Larry A. Grimes) before and after the college years with her husband. Later, she managed the residential division of Wingard Land Company then, in 1978, opened her own real estate office — Doris E. Grimes, Realtor, operating it until she was forced to retire due to onset dementia.

Doris was well-known as respected in the West Orange area, as a person and as a professional. She was, at one point, on the Orange County Planning and Zoning Board and was the first female president of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce in the 1970s.

She loved the Lord first and foremost and lived her life in such a manner as to honor Him. Her daughter states that if Doris did not make it to heaven, no one else has a chance. Her devotion to God, followed by her family and friends, was second to none. She loved unconditionally (even those who were not always easy to love), gave selflessly and always looked for the good in others.

Her other interests were music (could play piano by just hearing a song, then playing it), singing, sewing, gardening in her yard and re-purposing things. Her granddaughter, Kristy, said her Memaw (as her grandchildren and great-grandchildren affectionately called her) was Pinterest years before anyone came up with the idea and started a company by that name.

Doris will be missed by all who knew and loved her. She was a wonderful example of how to travel the journey through life to reach the ultimate destination she (and we) should strive for — heaven.

Memorial services were held Sept. 4, 2014, at West Orange Church of Christ, Winter Garden, where she had been a faithful member for more than 50 years.