Doris E. “Dori” Smith
In Loving Memory of Dori Ellen Smith
With heavy hearts and laughter, we announce the passing of Dori Ellen Smith at the young age of 49. Dori, a renowned connoisseur of corny jokes, love for rescue dogs, and the St. Louis Blues, left us on May 23, 2024.
Dori was born on a sunny spring day in April of 1975 in Columbia, Missouri. From the start, she was a ray of sunshine with golden blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes. She possessed a unique talent for finding humor in every situation and cracking jokes that could make even the grumpiest person smile.
Since she could crawl, Dori has had a deep connection with animals of all kinds. Her love and compassion for animals has been evident from an early age. One fond childhood memory of Dori’s family is their time living on a farm in Missouri. When she was five years old, Dori was seen walking toward the pond, followed by her favorite yellow tabby tomcat, two ducks, a goose, and a dog. The family still doesn’t know what they were up to, but they are certain that Dori had a plan and that the yellow tabby was in on it.
Dori enjoyed life and spending time with her family. She met Jason Smith in Hannibal, Missouri, and they married in 1993. They welcomed their first child, Samantha Ellen (Smith) Wood, in September 1993. Dori chose to name her daughter after her father due to her great love for him. In 1995, Dori and Jason welcomed their second child, Devlin Kane Smith. Their family was complete, and they were happy.
They moved to Gallatin, Missouri, in April of 1998 for work opportunities. While in Gallatin, Dori attended North Central Missouri College and took many psychology courses, as the world of psychology had always intrigued her. Dori obtained her Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) License in the state of Missouri and worked on the Daviess County Ambulance District. Dori enjoyed her career working to save lives in her local community. When Dori wasn’t working, she spent her time attending her children’s field trips and class parties at the school. Dori enjoyed crafting at home and watching Disney movies with her children.
Dori moved to Faucett, Missouri, in 2010 with a loving roommate, Alan Lord. They spent their time watching movies, attending appointments, and crafting. Dori and Alan were like two peas in a pod and truly enjoyed each other’s company.
Dori showed incredible resilience while battling the debilitating lung disease Alpha-1. In recent years, she faced health challenges with remarkable strength and dignity. Recognizing the importance of family and love, in 2019, she made the heartfelt decision to move in with her mother, Gwynn, who became her dedicated caregiver and constant companion.
The bond between Dori and her mother was truly extraordinary. Gwynn devoted herself to ensuring her daughter received the best possible care, accompanying her to countless doctor’s appointments, and providing unwavering support. It is undeniable that this loving care extended Dori’s life and brought her immense comfort and joy.
The family is forever grateful to Dori’s nurses, Sharon and Kerrie, for their exceptional care. Sharon provided respiratory therapy and monitored Dori for the pulmonologists at CHI, while Kerrie from Eversana served as Dori’s IV Infusion nurse. Both Sharon and Kerrie checked on Dori regularly, even on weekends and vacations.
“Not all angels have wings… some have scrubs.”
She is preceded in death by her father Sammuel McDannell and her stepfather Dennis Peters.
She is survived by her mother Gwynn Peters; children Samantha Wood (Stephen) & Devlin Smith; grandchildren Rilynn Ann, Liam Gabriel, Oliver Alexander, Zoey Louise & Hudson Ewell Wood; siblings Robyn Stehman, Michael Mizener (Lecia), Bobby Mizener (Jennifer); many nieces and nephews, and aunts and uncles.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you share a corny joke with someone today, rescue a dog, or take a moment to appreciate the beauty of a tree frog or lizard. Dori would have loved that. She would also love it if memorials were made to Little White Dog Rescue / https://www.littlewhitedogrescue.org or Alpha-1 Foundation / https://alpha1.org.
Rest in peace, Dori. May the afterlife be filled with laughter, love, and all the rescue dogs, lizards, yellow tabby tomcats, and tree frogs your heart desires. Go Blues!
Visitation: Saturday, June 1 at 9:30 a.m., followed by a
Memorial Service at 10:30 a.m., both at the Bellevue Memorial Funeral Chapel.
To view a live broadcast of the service, click the link below.
Inurnment: Bellevue Cemetery
4 Comments
We will miss you so much Dori and you will always hold a special place in my heart. We will all miss your smile, laughter and keeping us all inline at PR and PT rehab at Midlands. You kept us positive and always wanting to do our rehab programs; keeping us all in line with your positive attitude with laughter, smiles and keeping the nurses, staff and participants in rehab happy to be there and kept us coming back and doing our rehab programs. We will be together again when the angels put us all on their wings and bring us home too.
My heart and prayers go out to you all. Such a special person who cared about others and made the sun shine with her texts and care
Love the wonderful words said about one of my favorites. I will miss you Dori! I will miss your wise cracks and how much you made me hungry talking about LaMesa !! Or fries from 5 guys. Hugs to you all that loved her so and made her life so full. Our family feels so extremely close to yours and always has. We feel the loss heavy on our hearts for you.
Rest in Peace Dori.
We will not forget you.
Oh my dear friend, how I miss you.. Some of the best days in Missouri were spent hanging out with you. We truly bonded and so did our kids.. We had an unbreakable friendship bond as so does Dezi and Samantha .. Rest in Peace my friend.
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