Doris Lucille Carrigan

Doris Carrigan Doris Carrigan died peacefully in Sumner, WA, at age 93 on July 20, 2015, surrounded by her children. Doriss life was a testament to her deep, abiding love of family and to the values of acceptance, kindness, humor, hard work, and unconditional support for those around her. Born 10/16/21 in Toledo, Ohio, Doris was the fourth child of Carl and Florence (Bock) Dunn. When she was 15, her family moved to Tryon, Georgia, where her father had been recruited to a position as superintendent of Regal Gloves. They later moved to Atlanta where he bought and operated his own textile factory. Doris obtained a bachelors degree in Health at Womans College of Georgia, which engendered a lifelong interest in nutrition, exercise, and physiology . When America entered World War II, she took employment with the U.S. Army in the Chemical Warfare Division, where she met her future husband and the love of her life, Capt. Edward James Carrigan of Seattle. They married in 1943 and lived briefly in Dallas, TX, during Eds service. After the War, the couple settled in Seattle, where Eds father had established the Carrigan Hardware Store in the Greenwood neighborhood. Ed worked as a chemist for the Rayonier Corporation and built a house for a growing family. Their first child, Lynn, was born in 1946, before the family returned to Atlanta to explore business opportunities with Doriss father. Three more children followed, Ed Jr. in 1953, Catherine Ellen in 1958, and Carl Alexander in 1960. In 1970 the family returned to Washington State, settling in Puyallup near Eds work as plant manager for the Purex Corporation in Fife. Doris was the center of family life, always available for hugs, cookies, band-aids, transportation and audience for her childrens many activities, balanced meals, dinnertime conversation, bedtime tuck-ins, and later babysitting her grandchildren. She radiated warmth and positive thinking and encouraged her children in their passions. In her middle years, Doris widened her focus to include volunteering at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup and later for the Puyallup Public Library, where she was honored in her late 80s for her service. Always artistic, active, and creative, Doris enjoyed sewing clothes and doing crafts, selling her patchwork quilted bags and jackets, macram necklaces and planters, and tole-painted containers in a small Puyallup boutique during the 1970s and 1980s. She enjoyed sailing Puget Sound and traveling with her husband to California, Nevada, and Arizona after his retirement, and with her sister Mary Ellen, occasionally cruising to the Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico, and the Panama Canal. After her beloved husband died in 1997, she turned her energies to her grandchildren and great grandchildren, providing a model of gracious living, easy laughter, camaraderie, and family solidarity that became a bedrock for the Carrigan clan. Doris was famous for her potluck and holiday treats: professional-grade cheesecake, homemade coffee liqueur, mean Margaritas. She is known to have sported a fake mustache and sombrero on Cinco de Mayo. Doris moved into Stafford Suites in Sumner in 2014 for assisted living care and enjoyed regular visits from her family. Thanks to the Stafford employees for their extraordinary devotion in her final weeks. Doris was preceded in death by her husband and youngest son, Carl (Sherri Nichols) who passed away in March 2015.She is survived by her remaining children and their partners, Lynn Carrigan of Vashon Island, Ed & Tracey (Bevan) Carrigan of Bellevue, Cathy (Bud Slead) Carrigan, of Puyallup; Sherri Nichols of Puyallup; and by her many grandchildren & great-grandchildren: Caitlin (Dan) Kogan and their sons Sam and Jack; Ed (Jen) Carrigan III, their children Isaac and Evangeline; Molley Bevan; Nick Slead; Austin Carrigan, Ashley Carrigan, and Jacob Nichols.