Mrs. Doris Clark Grauerholz's Obituary
Doris was born in a log cabin in Wilson Valley, TX, near Temple, to Bill and Elva Clark on February 7, 1924. In 1930, at the age of 6, she contracted polio which left her paralyzed in her left leg for life. Despite numerous hospital stays, surgeries and rehab, there was never anything that Doris couldn’t do when she set her mind to it. She attended primary and secondary school in Academy, TX, graduating valedictorian in 1941. She started Temple Jr College while still in high school and went on to earn her Associate Degree. She learned to play the piano and sing and had her own radio show when she was only 20 years old. She loved playing ragtime piano and singing the songs of the times. She worked in the motor pool at Ft Hood (then Camp Hood), living in the barracks, during WWII and played and sang for the USO for the enjoyment of the soldiers preparing to go to war or returning home at the military base in central TX.
She married her husband Orville in December, 1951 and moved from Temple to Houston. Their son, Gary was born in 1954. She lived in many different cities between 1954 and 1960 to support Orville in his career with the Federal Government. During that time she worked full time as a secretary/executive assistant for several different government agencies and later spent 20 years with the Federal Aviation Administration before “retiring” to work as the church secretary for Park Place Methodist Church for 10 years. She knew shorthand and typed 80 words per minute on a manual typewriter which served her well during her career. She was “in heaven” when the IBM Selectric Typewriters came out and she could type even faster. In all those years of working and raising her son, she never let her “disability” keep her from doing anything. She participated as a parent in her son’s baseball games, band functions, Cub and Boy Scout functions and church outings. She loved to go camping with Orville and Gary and they camped monthly in their pop-up camper. In her later years, she took up painting and especially loved painting bluebonnets, which were her favorite flowers, and sunsets in the countryside.
When asked about the source of her incredible strength, she would always say it was because of her faith in God. She always gave credit to God when things went well and found solace in his grace when things were tough. Doris has remained active in her church through numerous name changes from Park Place Methodist to Park Place United Methodist to Servants of Christ United Methodist and maybe even a few more in between. She continued to support “her” church to the end. She loved attending Ashram in Lakeview every year, remained active in the World Wide Sunday School Class for over 60 years and attended Bible Study every Monday until a few months before she went to be with the Lord.
Family was always very important to Doris. There was no question that she was the family matriarch. She ensured that the family drove the 4 hours from Houston to Temple at least one weekend each month to visit Orville’s and her parents. She continued to bring the family together on holidays and special occasions all the way up until her final hours. She always welcomed new members into the family with open arms including wives, husbands, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, ensuring our entire blended family was welcome. And, oh how she loved those Great Grandchildren!!
Doris is preceded in death by her husband Orville Grauerholz; her parents, Bill and Elva Clark; her sister and brother-in-law, Evelyn and Gene Hutchinson.
Doris is survived by her son, Gary Grauerholz and his wife Haydee Grauerholz; grandchildren, Jeremy Grauerholz and his fiancé Allison Norman; Rebecca and Sergio Fuentes, Zeyhla Cruz, Jaime and Reyna Cruz and great-grandsons Marley and Hendrix Fuentes and Parker Grauerholz; and great granddaughters Vida and Zoe Cruz; nieces and nephews, Vicki and Billy Ray Roesler, Lynda and Don Gunter and Larry Hutchinson.
The family will receive friends on Friday, January 25, 2019 from 5:00-8:00 PM at Southpark Funeral Home, 1310 North Main St. Pearland, TX 77581. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM, Saturday, January 26, 2019 in the funeral home chapel. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Servants of Christ United Methodist Church in memory of Doris Grauerholz at http://servantsnow.org/
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