Doris Maxine Redd

In Loving Memory Richardson--Doris M. Smith Redd, 96, of Richardson, Texas, passed away peacefully on 5/8/2021 at 6:00 pm. Her daughters Brandy and Cheryl were by her side. Although Doris was hoping to live to be 100, she settled for the evening before Mother’s Day. Born in Southern Illinois on September 30, 1924 to Glen and Alberta Smith, Doris was the first of 5 sisters. Growing up in Illinois, Doris helped her father planting crops and caring for the farm animals and helped raise her sisters. She even drove her sisters to school in a horse-drawn wagon until they got a used Model-T for her to drive. Doris loved learning and found time to excel as a student where she graduated as Magna Cum Laude from Highschool. After WWII, Doris married a good-looking pilot, and they began the process of raising three children. Later, the Redd family moved to Charleston, Illinois--home of Eastern Illinois University (EIU)--so the children could go to college if they chose. Sometime after, the couple divorced, and Doris and her youngest daughter moved to Texas to begin a new life where her sister Mary’s family was already living. Doris was truly an amazing person—not only did she raise three children, get a degree in education from EIU, work as an Engineer Planning Specialist and Productivity and Quality Control Specialist for LTV Corporation, she also served as a missionary in Thailand for the Thai Christian Foundation with Allan and Joan Eubank, helped create Payap College (now Payap University) and the Thai Christian Institute (CCI). While in Thailand, Doris took a flat-bottom boat down the Mekong River to visit Laos and even rode an elephant! Doris was a hard-working, fearless, and generous Christian who shared her home with many individuals (including one couple from Thailand working on a master’s degree), took care of family members when ill, and loved her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren fiercely. She practiced her faith throughout her life, and even when it was necessary to move from Assisted Living to memory care, Doris taught a Bible study for interested ladies for several months. Allan sums up how so many people feel about Doris when he says: “Her outstanding administrative ability, integrity, deep faith, enthusiasm to help, and warm hospitality have made us feel that Doris is part of our family, and we thank God for her.” Doris was preceded in death by her parents, her four sisters Martha Shelton, Deloris Tapp, Mary Jackson, and Abbie Kiefer, and her son, Ronald (Ron) E. Redd. She is survived by her daughter-in law, Joyce Redd; two daughters: Brandy Thomas and Cheryl Hamilton; two sons-in-law: Phillip Thomas and Howard Hamilton; four grandchildren: Erin Watkins, Rebecca Foutch; Ryan Redd and John Redd; and eight great-grandchildren: Madeline, Kenneth and Eleanor Foutch, Samuel and Ava Redd, and Carver, Nathan and Clark Redd; and hundreds of friends across the U.S. and around the world and in Thailand where she served as a missionary. We will miss you, Doris (Mother, Khun Mae, Mother-in-law, Grandma, Dottie, and Friend)! Services will be held in Illinois at a later time.

Doris Maxine Redd

September 30, 1924 - May 8, 2021