Doris E. Walker

Doris Walker was born Doris Elizabeth Montgomery on August 5th, 1932 in the area of Tuscaloosa County know as North River to her parents James Monroe and Mable Irene Montgomery. She grew up in the Mt. Olive community where her love of gardening, nature, and country living originated. Doris attended Mt. Olive School followed by Tuscaloosa County High School where she graduated in 1950.

She married James Carl Rice in January 1962. Along with her son, Gilbert, from a previous marriage, they moved to Anchorage, Alaska shortly thereafter. The family returned to Northport in 1966. She was widowed in 1976. In 1985 she was married to Glenn N. Walker and lived happily in the Romulus community the remainder of her life. She loved Glenn and enjoyed time with his sons Glenn and his wife Patsy, Benjie and his wife Donna, and Harold and his wife Flora along with their children and the extended Walker family.

Doris began work when she was 14 at McLellan’s Five and Dime store. She later worked at Bryce Hospital (where she met her life long best friend Edna Miller), Gulf States paper mill, and the JC Penny catalog department. She developed friendships from each of these workplaces.

Doris died on Sunday November 19th, 2023 at Hospice of West Alabama. Befitting her love of gardening and flowers, the final bloom of the season from her Geranium was on her bedside table.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband James Carl Rice (1976), her husband Glenn N. Walker (2010), her oldest son Marvin Gilbert Essay, and her older brother James E. Montgomery.

Doris is survived by her sons James E. Rice and his wife Lori of Marion, IN and Joe A. Rice of Northport, AL; her granddaughter, Lauren Rumple and her husband Kurtis of Marion, IN; her grandson Chris Rice and his wife Kaleigh of Northport, AL; and three great grandchildren: Hadley, Eli, and Rory Rumple.

Family and friends will gather at New Hope Baptist Church in Romulus, Alabama to celebrate Doris’s life at 11:00 O’clock AM on Wednesday, November 22nd. The funeral will be preceded by a time of visitation starting an hour prior to the service. Internment will follow at Chapel Hill Baptist Church cemetery in Northport, AL.

Doris was a faithful and devoted wife, a wise, loving mother and a wonderful Nanna. She loved baking, cooking, and had a green thumb. She loved watching and feeding birds. The most important thread that ran throughout her life from her childhood in the Great Depression to her death was her faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord. She now reside in His presence for eternity, a citizen of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.

Sunset Brown-Service Funeral Home, a Dignity Memorial Provider, is honored to serve the Walker family during their time of bereavement. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.SunsetBrown-Funeral.com