Doris Jeanne Pickerill passed away peacefully on April 24, 2023.
Doris was born July 11, 1926 to Helen Fern Shaffer and Heber Jesse Sill in Salem, Indiana.
Doris grew up near the Blue River bridge and Beck’s Mill in the country in Salem. She enjoyed spending time reading books, gardening and learning to crochet, taught to her by her favorite aunt, Cora Rudder. She loved spending time with her uncle Ellis and Aunt Cora Rudder and enjoyed playing with her cousins, Victor, Paul and Robert Rudder. Her mother Helen was a homemaker, her father Heber worked at Smith Cabinet and later farmed at their country home raising chickens and tobacco. Doris spent her childhood years helping raise her siblings, who endearingly called her “Sis” . She walked to school and being an avid reader was a frequent visitor at the Salem Library. Her favorite book was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. During her childhood, she also helped with gardening, learned to can fruits and vegetables, make pickles, bake pies cakes and cookies, which her brothers loved and enjoyed. In the evenings and weekends, she would listen to the Grand Ole Opry with her mother and grandmother Shaffer.
Doris met the love of her life, Eugene Pickerill while he was serving in the US Navy. They were married March 9, 1947 in Pekin, Indiana at the parsonage of the Highway Church, in a private ceremony. Their dear friends, Charles and Gerry Pickerill were the Best Man and Maid of Honor. They all celebrated with a dinner in Louisville, Ky. Doris and Eugene spent their wedding night at the now historical Seelbach Hotel in Louisville. Their first home was in an apartment in Louisville, living above a restaurant, which they baked pies for on the weekends to make extra money to enjoy the movie theater. After moving back to Salem, Eugene built the family home on Highway 60, where they lived and raised their three children, Ron, Teri and Barbara.
Doris was a homemaker and enjoyed gardening, flowers, sewing and baking. She was a member of the Homemaker Club and the D. A. R. Eugene worked as a supervisor at International Harvester in Louisville. In the summers they enjoyed traveling with their children to Florida to visit friends and family. After retirement from International Harvester, Eugene and Doris traveled in the States in their RV and eventually moved to a home near Phoenix, Arizona. Eugene passed away on February 9, 1994, one month before their 47th Anniversary.
Soon after his death, Doris moved back to Indiana to be near her family. She spent the remainder of her life living in Scottsburg, Indiana, near her youngest child, Barbara and her husband Foster. They were loving caretakers until she passed.
Funeral Service: 2 pm Saturday April 29th at Dawalt Funeral Home in Salem, followed by interment in Crown Hill Cemetery.
Visitation will be Saturday from Noon until the time of the service.
Hunter was born March 8, 2023, in Floyd County, Indiana. 
