Doris Maness

Doris Barton Maness passed away on November 8, 2023, at age 91.

Doris was born on August 6, 1932, in Chester County, Tennessee. She was the only child of Arthur H. Barton and Bertha Moss Barton. Doris is survived by her four children, Roger Maness (Kathy), Karen McPherson (Randy), Joey Maness, and Michele Phillips (Glenn); her grandchildren, Nichole Karnes, Brandy Smith (Jon), Summer Taylor (Ezra), Joseph Maness (Diane), Austin Maness (Polina), Taylor McPherson (Whitney), Hayes McPherson (Amy); and ten great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her beloved sisters-in-law Willadean Thrasher and Joy Whitaker (Jack); beloved cousin-in-law Patsy Jones (Don); several nieces-in-law and nephews-in-law; and countless friends and persons whose lives were enriched immeasurably by Doris and her late husband, Andy, over the course of seven decades of marriage. She was a member of the Plainview Church of Christ.

Doris graduated from Chester County High School in 1950 after which she attended Freed- Hardeman College and obtained an Associates Degree. She married Andy Maness on May 29, 1954, and spent the next 69 1⁄2 years with him through thick and thin, sickness and health. Doris and Andy were each selflessly committed to the welfare of the other as well as their family, friends and others who came under their wings. Doris had a long career at Freed-Hardeman University, serving for many years as its Director of Financial Aid. A lasting tribute to that service are the numerous times over the years that her children have encountered former FHU students in faraway places who recognized the name and were quick to give Doris the credit for having helped get them through school.

Doris had a gentle spirit beneath which she possessed an amazing toughness and stamina. Her father had two sisters and two brothers, none of whom ever married. In the 1960s and 1970s, Doris cared for all four of her aging aunts and uncles, who lived ten miles away on a family farm, until they died, while attending to her family and maintaining a full-time job at FHU.

Over the course of her life, Doris treated every person the way she would have wanted to be treated and welcomed all persons into her home without regard to race or socioeconomic class. She was the living embodiment of faith working through love. Her life was a shining example for all who knew her.

Funeral services will be 2:00 PM Tuesday November 14, 2023, at Shackelford Funeral Directors – Crook Avenue Chapel with Wayne Scott, Roger Maness, Kathy McPherson, Michele Phillips, and Terry Johnson officiating. Burial will follow at Henderson City Cemetery.

The family will receive friends at Crook Avenue on Tuesday from 12:00 noon until 2:00 PM service time.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital at stjude.org and / or FHU Associates.

Shackelford Funeral Directors

Henderson, TN

731-989-2421