Doris Shervin Taylor was born Nov. 1, 1935, in Jackson, to parents Margret Hedrick Shervin and Robert Shervin. Her maternal grandparents were early settlers in the area and had a homestead where Teton Park is now located.
Early in Doris’ young life, the family had a dairy ranch south of Jackson, where she learned the value of hard work that guided her whole life. Her father had medical problems. The ranch was sold and the family lived in other parts of Wyoming as well as Utah, Oregon and California.
At the age of 14, Doris became a “Born Again Christian” and held steadfast to her faith until she returned home to the Lord.
In the 1950s, she married Gary Dugdale and had two children, Gary and Debra. The marriage did not last.
Doris worked as a waitress, restaurant cook and retail salesperson while taking care of her parents, who both died at home and in her arms.
In 1979, Doris sold her property in Jackson and moved to Thayne, where she built a grocery store that she owned for nine years.
In May of 1966, while she was the head cook at the Wort Hotel, there was a dishwasher from Star Valley whom she approached and said, “If you would wash your face, comb your hair and change your shirt, you wouldn’t be a bad looking kid.”
In spite of that, he became very dear friends to her and her parents. This dear friend was a plumber and plumbed her grocery store. They married each other on Christmas day 1987.
Her husband, Lin, was a student at the University of Utah, and Doris quit the grocery business and joined her husband going to school, as well. Doris became a certified addiction counselor and helped vast numbers of people with substance abuse problems over a span of 20 years.
Doris and Lin usually had horses. Doris put hundreds of trail miles on her beloved Jake over a 22-year period. Doris and Lin built a retirement home for themselves and the horses on a 6-acre property in Afton, and spent spring, summer and fall enjoying the beauty of the area, often on horseback.
Doris read her Bible cover-to-cover dozens of times in her life and held fast to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Doris died in the Afton hospital on Sunday, June 15, where she had wonderful care while being kissed by her husband and best friend, Linford Taylor, as she took her last breath.
