Nina Doty

Nina Doty passed away March 29, 2013. She was born February 25, 1937 in Bridgeport, CT to Michael and Anna Laputz. Nina graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas, TX and went on to study education at Southern Methodist University. In her early career she worked as a secretary at Vought Aircraft, where she met and fell in love with her husband Don. Their dreams of creating a family were fulfilled with the adoption of John first, and then Jennifer a few years later.

Nina loved to shop and always rose to the challenge of finding the very best deal on anything. Her family used to tease her, saying she should have her own TV show, and call it: “Nina Shops.” She also enjoyed reading books and watching movies, and was an expert with a sewing machine. There was no minor tailoring that she couldn’t do, and in her early years, she even made her own clothes. But above everything else, she loved her family. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for any friend or member of her family, and she especially doted on her grandchildren.

Her eldest granddaughter Keely Bearden remembers many mornings waking up in her grandparents’ house and getting up “to see Nana drinking her coffee in her mu-mu reading the paper. She would already know what I wanted for breakfast: a toaster strudel and some milk. No one can make toaster strudels like Nana,” says her granddaughter. “I’ve tried, but it’s not the same!”

“I remember when I was little and Nana would keep me and my sister,” says Cade Bearden, her grandson. “She would always take us shopping and get us new shoes and clothes and shower us with love and affection. She taught me how to be a good person, and instilled qualities in me at a young age to help mold me into who I am today. I love her dearly and I will miss her greatly.”

Her youngest granddaughter, Madison Bearden, recalls outings to Cracker Barrel and the small gifts her grandmother brought every time she visited. “She would always include a beanie baby we didn’t have,” says Madison. “We collected those beanie babies for years and still have them. We never got two of the same kind.” Among her other happy memories are her grandmother’s baking -- “Mostly apple pie, which was my favorite!” – and the jingle of the ice cream truck driving through the neighborhood. “She’d send us out with the money to buy our favorite popsicles,” she says.

Nina cared for her husband in the final days of his life in 1999, and for her mother in the final days of her life in 2005.

Nina is preceded by her husband Don A. Doty and parents.

She is survived by her son John Doty and wife Beatriz; daughter Jennifer Bearden and husband Brent; grandchildren Keely Bearden, Cade Bearden, Madison Bearden and her sister Sandra Benski.

A graveside service will be held Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at Moore Memorial Gardens in Arlington, TX at 11am.