LARSON, Doris Maye

LARSON, PROTEXTOR, MATTSON, BENESH, JOY, MCNUTT

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 9/13/2006 at 14:02:57

Doris Maye Larson

CHEROKEE, Iowa -- Doris Maye Larson, 80, formerly of Cherokee, passed away Friday, Nov. 4, 2005, in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. after a valiant struggle with various health problems.

Services will be 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22 at Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, with the Rev. Ray Hampton officiating. Graveside services will be 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Roseland Cemetery at Sanborn, Iowa. The family will also be present 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at the funeral home.

Doris was born on Nov. 29, 1924, to Elsie and Earl Protextor at their farm home near Sanborn, Iowa. She attended a one-room school house for much of her early education and was valedictorian of her senior class of 1942 in Sanborn. She loved growing up on the farm with her sister, Evelyn. She enjoyed immensely the time she got to spend with her father raising animals, doing chores and being her father's shadow. Her lifelong love for nature and gardening was grown during those years.

After graduation, she married Bob Mattson and spent the next several years on the East and West coasts. Their son, Robert, was born in Sanborn in 1946.

Doris married Rudolph Larson on Jan. 3, 1951, in Sioux City. Upon returning from their honeymoon, they began "their" career in the Army as Rudy was accepted to the Navy School of Music outside of Washington, D.C. Doris worked as a civil service bookkeeper for many years during their time in the Army. They made their home primarily at Fort Sheridan, Ill. Their daughter, Cheryl, was born in 1961. The family moved to Cherokee in 1972.

Doris loved playing golf, bowling in her younger years and traveling to visit friends and family. She volunteered her time with the child abuse council, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and various local groups. She also founded "Heart Beats," a heart support group. Her proudest accomplishments were her children and grandchildren, along with keeping a beautiful home and garden. She was a dear friend to many and will be missed deeply by her family and friends.

Survivors include a daughter, Cheryl Benesh and her husband, Chad, of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.; a daughter-in-law, Barbara Larson of Lake Placid, N.Y.; four grandchildren, Sarah and Andrew Benesh, Clint Joy of Los Angeles, Calif., and Brittany Joy and her husband, Cory, of Wheat Ridge, Colo.; a great-great-granddaughter, Sasha; and a sister, Evelyn McNutt of St. Ansgar, Iowa.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a son, Robert in 1993; and her husband, Rudy in 2002.