Lura Doris Sutherland

November 14, 1927 - July 9, 2017

Lura Doris Sutherland Grace, Kindness, Intellect Born in Dyer Co. Tennessee in November 1927, Doris valued education, achieved success in her career, supported and loved her family and friends and pursued lifelong learning and intellectual engagement. Her mother, Ola Phillips, was a cornerstone of her community, well-known delivering many of the county’s babies. Her father, Rollie Phillips was a quiet leader who farmed and ran a local store for many years. Doris, her sister Peggy and her brother Wilburn stayed in close contact with their parents and the Dyersburg community throughout their lives and came back “home” several times a year. Doris and Peggy were gifted students, reading and studying by flashlight under the covers long after Ola and Rollie sent them to bed. After high school, Doris worked at the Halls air base as a clerk during World War 2 and witnessed the airmen training, with sometimes tragic results. Her plan was to save money for college and her plan worked. She attended Memphis State College with the goal of becoming a teacher. After college, Doris taught at Parkin Elementary School in Arkansas for 2 years. She decided to become a librarian. Around this time she visited with her brother Wilburn and Helen in Chicago. Wilburn owned a successful machine shop and was more than happy to help. Doris studied Social Work and Library Science at the University of Illinois where she met Bob. Bob wanted to marry Doris from the first moment he saw her. Doris and Bob Sutherland were married in Fowlkes, Tennessee by the pastor of the Palestine Church and made their home in Chicago where John and Barry were born. Doris earned a Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Chicago in 1959 before she and Bob returned to Memphis, where Tony was born. Relocating to Columbia, Maryland in the late 1960’s, Bob and Doris both worked for the Social Security Administration. Doris’ career spanned four decades, first as a teacher and librarian and then in data processing at Social Security where she was a highly valued troubleshooter and received numerous awards and recognition for her work. After retirement, Doris traveled widely to many countries, including Ireland, Spain, Mexico, and throughout the United States; remained an active theatergoer; and stayed involved in numerous organizations. A strong and accomplished woman, Doris continually sought to better understand national and global political, policy and economic issues, as well as those closer to home. She was a strong believer in thoughtful dialogue and exchange as vehicle to foster understanding and collaboration. She had an analytic mind that never tired of new challenges. She enrolled in local and university courses throughout her life and followed current events closely. An active theater patron, voracious reader, and baseball fan, she also generously supported organizations devoted to increasing understanding and improving the community. She had a strong sense of history and of connectedness with the past, present and future. Doris was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and sister and aunt. Her support of her family was strong and constant. She is survived by her sister Peggy Hotaling, three sons, John, Barry and Tony, daughter-in-law, Barbara and four grandchildren, Ainsley, Sam, Katherine and Sarah. She maintained a close connection and a loving relationship with her brother and sister, and each and every member her entire family. She and Bob were inseparable until he passed in March 2009.