Doris Freeman

Doris Jean (Green) Freeman, surrounded by her family, passed away in her home on October 13, at the grand age of 96. Doris (Mimi to many) lived a life of service, devotion, and love- for her family, her students, and for the churches and communities in which she lived.

Doris was born on June 27, 1927, in Hawley, Texas, to Ora Ayres and Donal Dawson Green, one of six surviving children. The family moved to Abilene in 1940, where Doris graduated from Abilene High School in 1944. After her freshman year at Simmons College, she was asked to teach in a small town nearby. She agreed and completed an emergency certificate to teach public schools. Only after she was hired was she told that she would also need to drive the school bus, taking students to and from school, parking the bus at home each night. She was 18 years old.

After her first year of teaching, Doris met Cyrus William Freeman, Jr. (Cy or CW) in February of 1946, and married him in Abilene on June 1 of the same year. Cy, also from Abilene, had returned after his service as a Radioman in the U.S. Navy during World War II, having served in Panama and in the North Atlantic. The newlyweds attended the future Hardin-Simmons University for one year before moving to Bryan, Texas, where Doris worked in a medical laboratory while Cy completed his degree in Agriculture at Texas A&M University. Their first son, Clayton Michael, was born in Bryan in 1948.

Leaving Bryan/College Station, Cy and Doris moved to Albany, Texas, where Cy taught

Agriculture at the high school. Doris gave birth to their younger son, Clifford Ray, in 1950, and in the same year, Cy accepted a position with the Texas Soil Conservation Service. The young family moved regularly around West Texas for several years through Cy's work with the Service, settling in 1952 in Tulia, where they lived until 1999. Cy worked as an agricultural engineer, ultimately owning his own business, as he helped in planning and laying irrigation pipe for a good bit of the Texas Panhandle. Doris completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Education, and taught for 38 years, mostly second graders. The Freeman family was deeply involved with the community and with First Baptist Church, where Cy served as a Deacon, and where together they cared for many years for babies and toddlers in the church nursery.

Cy and Doris moved to Abilene in 1999 where they became involved with First Baptist Church and, as always, with their extended family. Lots of family in Texas and New Mexico! Together, they volunteered for over a decade at Meals On Wheels, commited to the people they served. Cy passed away in 2012, leaving Mimi/Great Mimi in the love and care of her family.

Doris is survived by her son, Clay, his wife Sandy, their daughter Katie and her partner Amanda Gayle Bond, and by son Cliff and his wife Kathie, of Farmington, New Mexico. Doris will also be missed by Cliff and Kathie's son Clint and his wife Erica, of Farmington, NM, and their daughters, Doris's great-granddaughters, Rebekah, Hannah, Joannah, and Lydiah, as well as by their son Corey and his wife Megan, of Leander, Texas, and their sons, Doris's great-grandsons, Brody and Evan. Especially dear to Doris were her youngest brother Morgan Green and his wife Cynthia, next-door neighbors and friends as well as family to Doris, and their daughters Adrienne Morales and Angie Cook, Angie's husband David, and their sons Austin and Dawson and his wife Maddi.

The Freeman family wishes to thank from the bottom of our hearts Doris's faithful and dear Visiting Angels of the past several years- Christina, Alma, Rosa, Leslie, Amy, Kathe, and Kiara, who have become a part of our larger family in their devoted care of Doris. We also want to thank Doris's dear and kind neighbors who have kept watch over her in so many thoughtful ways.

Gifts in Doris's memory may be made to Hendrick Hospice Care or to Meals On Wheels.

The Pallbearers who honor Doris today are Corey Freeman, Brody Freeman, David Cook, Dawson Cook, Austin Cook, and Gary Green.