Doris Bristow

Doris M. Bristow was born on March 11, 1930, in Des Moines, Iowa, and died June 16, 2025, at her home at Martina Place Assisted Living in Johnston, Iowa.

Doris grew up in the Highland Park neighborhood of Des Moines, in a house on the corner of Ovid and Oxford that was usually filled with children (Doris was the second youngest of five) and a visiting relative or two. Her parents were Lester and Mabel Barnes.

After graduating from North High School in 1948, Doris worked at what she always referred to simply as “the telephone company” until after she married Ray Bristow in 1954. She told the story many times of how Ray’s army draft notice was waiting in the mailbox when they returned from their honeymoon. They spent the next few years in Killeen, Texas, while Ray was stationed at Fort Hood.

The couple had three children: Mark, Sandy, and David. After 1960 the family lived in Urbandale. Doris was a homemaker, but eventually she also worked outside the home, first as the “lunch lady” at Jensen Elementary School, and then for many years at Sears, where she was a supervisor in the credit office.

Family was important to Doris. She kept up on the latest news from all the relatives and often told stories about family past and present, keeping alive the memory of generations past. She was especially close to her mother and to her sister, Zelma, who lived nearby. Doris’s faith was important to her, and she was a longtime member of First Federated Church.

Doris is survived by her children, Mark (Mary) Bristow, Sandy (Steve) Gotthardt, and David (Danette) Bristow, and by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband and by her siblings Les, Zelma, Paul, and Robert.

Memorial services will be held Saturday, July 12, at Merle Hay Funeral Home, 4400 Merle Hay Road, Urbandale, Iowa: visitation at 10 a.m., funeral at 11 a.m., with a graveside service immediately following at the adjacent Chapel Hill Gardens Cemetery. Rev. Steve Smith will officiate. A reception will be held at the funeral home following the graveside service.