How do you describe the many lives led by an incredibly joyful woman in just a few paragraphs? As her daughter the best I can do is to share how happily she lived them all. Doris Arlene Meritt Miller Huber was born in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, on January 6, 1938, to Cloyd and Forrestine (Flynn) Meritt. Her parents welcomed her into Heaven on September 30, 2024, after she passed away peacefully in her sleep at her home in Tuscola.

Doris attended Mt. Vernon High School until age 16 when she fell in love with Dean David Miller, a handsome young Navy man. They married and moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where she enjoyed looking at beautiful mansions and working in a small boutique, which surely fostered her incredible sense of style. They moved back to Illinois after Dean got a job at USI in Tuscola. She was delighted when she had her daughter and best friend, Dee Ann, and doted on her constantly. Her outlook on life was always positive no matter what challenges it gave her. She became an attractive divorcee in her early thirties and married again in her mid-fifties to John Huber who preceded her in death. 

Doris worked at Tuscola First National Bank, Four Seasons clothing store, Millikin National Bank, Bank of Illinois, and Villa Grove State Bank where she laughed daily with her customers and coworkers who also became her life-long friends. She loved Villa Grove where people genuinely cared for her. Doris was an amazing artist with a special talent for drawing women from the 1950s. She was a clothing model for several small boutiques in Central Illinois and enjoyed wearing beautiful outfits from those shops. She left a trail of sunshine and laughter wherever she went.

Doris leaves many sweet and silly memories for those who loved her: daughter, Dee Ann (Don) Hoffman; beloved grandson, Zachary (Milo); brother Gary (Brenda) Meritt; a loving niece, Lisa (Daryl) Smothers; her mini-me niece, Michelle Meritt; and a nephew, Gary (Michelle) Meritt along with many cousins and friends. She will be missed by her dear friends, Cheryl, Martha, and Marty, who sat with her at the corner naughty table telling jokes and laughing hysterically. A special thank you goes out to the staff at Brookstone for making her life wonderful these last eight great years. She thanked me every day for moving her there. I always replied that I want to live there, too, when I refuse to grow up. In addition to her family and friends, she loved all animals (especially dogs), Diet Cokes, and Twinkies. Hostess Twinkies stock will take a tumble with her passing.

Doris would be so happy if you could donate in her name to the Champaign County Humane Society where she once took a stray dog she found roaming in the country, only to go back days later to bring it home with her. Her legacy will be the joyful memories she gave to everyone she met. Be sure to smile whenever you think of her and share your silly Doris stories at every opportunity. Remember to include the word “shenanigans” when you do.

Please join us in celebrating this extraordinary woman’s life on Friday, October 4, 2024, at Joines Funeral Home in Villa Grove, Illinois. Greetings and Visitation begin at 2:00pm followed by a funeral service at 4:00pm. If you have a funny Doris story to share, there will be time allocated for laughter during the service.