Doris Joan Sutherland Kox
Doris Joan Sutherland Kox was born in Lincoln, Maine on August 19, 1922. She celebrated her 100th birthday in the Sun Prairie Health Care Center with a small gathering, balloons and cupcakes, then passed in her sleep on August 22, 2022. Thoroughly independent, she had lived in her own home in Madison from August 1959 until just earlier this year.
Her people were tough, Scots-Irish Presbyterians and Congregationalists, from “Down East” Maine and New Brunswick, people who were accustomed to making a living off the land and sea. Her parents, Earl and Hazel (McLaughlin) Sutherland moved a bit south, to East Sullivan, Maine, into a house which Earl built. The house remains today and holds a panoramic view of Frenchman’s Bay, surrounding inlets and Mt Desert Island on the horizon.
During the peak of the depression Doris lived in Bangor for a time with her grandparents Myrtle and John Mahoney and Uncle Bill and Aunt Doris Skinner, whom she loved as a second family. She graduated from Sumner High School, in Sullivan, in 1940, and shortly thereafter made her way to St. Joseph’s Hospital Nursing School in Providence, Rhode Island. While there, her association with the hospital clergy led to her conversion to Roman Catholicism, a faith which she held fast the rest of her life.
During WWll, she received basic training in the US Army Nursing Corps at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, and tended to wounded American GI’s as well as German POWs in Foxboro. In 1947 she moved to Milwaukee to accept a nursing position with the Marquette University Medical Hospital. At that time, she met and married her late husband, William Henry Kox. They remained together until his death. Regarding her marriage, she said it was the best thing she ever did.
On moving to Madison in 1959, Doris was a career Registered Nurse, first at the Lakeview Sanitarium, following that at the Central Wisconsin Colony where she cared for children with special needs, and lastly at the Mendota Mental Health Center, caring for the mentally ill. After retiring 1985, she enjoyed supporting many charities, St. Peter’s Catholic church, and volunteering with the Dane County Coalition on Aging and SOS. She and Bill travelled widely, including several trips to Europe in the summer and Mexico and Florida in the winter. Her later years were filled with visiting children, grand and great-grandchildren and their families. She loved reading — subscribing to numerous magazines and newspapers and had a special fondness for crime fiction. She collected dolls and displayed them throughout her house, giving them to her grandchildren who showed a love or interest. She also enjoyed meeting with old colleagues and friends from work. She remained close to many nieces and nephews from both Bill’s family in Wisconsin and her family in Maine. A special thanks to her niece, Eileen Grimm for lifelong friendship and to Fern Ruppel, Barb Fahey, and Deb Julian, who were able to continue visiting even as her health deteriorated.
Doris is survived by her children: Cynthia Kluisinske; William, Jr. (Debra Moderson-Kox), Christopher (Lan Lieu), Mary Ann (Brian Tinberg), Kevin E.G. (Connie Gray), Brian (Ann Blum), Geoffrey (Mary Rutlin), and Jennifer; Grand-children, Annie (Mark) Subola, Elizabeth Klusinske, Amanda (Nathan Horst) Moderson-Kox, Benjamin (Monica Yue) Moderson-Kox, Nicholas (Heidi Lund) Moderson-Kox, Anton and Lucas Kox, Adam Kox, Samuel (Anna) Julian, Dylan, Mackinnley and Addison Kox, Hallee Kox; great-grandchildren Andrew (Mars), Christopher and Matthew Subola, Dublin and Maslo Horst; her sister Shirley Ordway of Colorado Springs.
Doris was preceded in death by her parents, husband Bill, daughter Margaret, beloved grandsons Brandon Kox and Alexander Kox and siblings Robert, Cynthia, Louis, Keith, Blaine, and John.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 am on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, at St. Peter Church, 5001 N. Sherman Ave. with Father Gabriel Lopez-Betanzos officiating. Visitation will be held from 10:00 am until the time of Mass. Burial will follow at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery.
The family wishes to thank Agrace Hospice and a special thank you to the staff at the Sun Prairie Health Care Center for the love and support they provided.
To view and sign this guestbook, please visit: www.ryanfuneralservice.com.
COPYRIGHT 2022 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
