Born in Laurel, MS the youngest of four & only daughter of Mary Ellen & Paul Silas Hearn, Sr. Dorris was the salutatorian of Enterprise (MS) High School and an All State Mississippi basketball star. She attended The University of Alabama - School of Home Economics. She & her husband, Earnest “Deas” Deason, were married for 62 years until his passing in March 2008. They worked side-by-side throughout their marriage in several business ventures. In the early 50’s, they owned the Necchi Sewing Machine store in Tuscaloosa, AL. As a Home Economist, Dorris taught Necchi’s new revolutionary zig-zag sewing method on live local TV shows, to high school & college classes, & to large women’s groups. Dorris was president of the Tuscaloosa Business & Professional Woman’s Club & of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority, & a member of the exclusive Altrusa Club.

In Birmingham, Dorris was the only woman agent for an independent insurance company, Mutual Benefit Life, and was consistently the top producer in a field of male counterparts winning her many sales awards & trips. Dorris & Deas were members of First United Methodist Church & The Club for over 50 years, and members of the Dragon’s Club dance group in the 1950’s. They traveled extensively to Europe & the Bahamas. They loved spending time with close friends & family at their Birmingham home atop Red Mountain, their Fort Morgan, AL beach house, Poodley’s Playhouse, & on their boat, the Sea Goddess, which they docked in Gulf Shores, Muscle Shoals, &, most recently, in Scottsboro, AL.

Dorris loved traveling, boating, collecting antiques, Alabama football & basketball, & spending time with her beloved family. But, her favorite thing to do was entertaining. She was known for throwing fabulous parties in true Southern style for her friends and family. She was thrilled when her friends at Park Tower Condominiums recently renamed the Party Room the “Deason Room” in honor of the fabulous parties she threw there.

She will be welcomed in Heaven by her husband, Earnest “Deas” Deason; her parents, Paul & Mary Ellen (Robinson) Hearn; her brothers: Paul Hearn, Jr. (& wife, Patty), Gaines Hearn (& wife, Opal), & Rudy Hearn; her best friends, Bonnie English & Ruth Harris; and countless others.

Those who will be missing her on here on earth are her son, Glenn Daniel Deason (Donna) of Scottsboro; & daughters, Mary Paula Deason White (John Michael) of Leeds, & Deborah Deason (Frank Hays) of Vestavia Hills; her daughter-in-law, Alice Sims Deason of Hoover; her sisters-in-law, Judy Hearn of Chickasaw & Ruby Griesenbeck of Bastrop, TX; 13 grandchildren, & 26 great grandchildren. 

Visitation will be held on Wed., May 27 from 12:00 - 2:00 pm with a chapel service at 2:00 at Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home at 2701 John Hawkins Pkwy., Hoover, AL 35244. Due to the pandemic seating will be limited. Social distancing will be practiced and masks encouraged. Graveside services will be held Thu., May 28 at 2:00pm at Mobile Memorial Gardens, 6100 Three Notch Rd., Mobile, AL 36619. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested in Dorris’ name to the First United Methodist Church Downtown Birmingham. If friends would prefer to send something, live plants would be appreciated in lieu of fresh cut flowers.