Doris Jane Linzey Kenyon

Doris Jane Linzey Kenyon, 81, affectionately known to her family as DeDe, who lived in Raleigh nearly 70 years, died peacefully Saturday, March 31, 2007, at Palmetto Health Baptist Medical Center in Columbia, SC.
She was a compulsive reader who loved nature and took a keen and broad interest in the world around her. She delighted in solving crossword puzzles, rarely missed an episode of "Jeopardy!" and believed deeply in keeping a sharp mind; she sometimes said she failed to understand the concept of boredom.
Doris Jane Linzey was born December 27, 1925, in Cleveland and also lived during childhood in Easton, PA, and Greensboro, NC, before moving to Raleigh in 1937. She graduated from Needham B. Broughton High School and attended Saint Mary's Junior College.
She was introduced in a high school English class to William Turner Kenyon, whom she married in September 1944, while he was a lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces. He died in 1986. Together they built a cottage on Kerr Lake in 1966; Doris spent happy summers there until late in her life, savoring its vivid sunsets, tending her flower gardens and enjoying the company of lifelong friends who also made homes there.
In Raleigh, Doris was a president and secretary of Thorn and Thistle Garden Club. She also worked at West Raleigh Presbyterian Church for 23 years, serving there as a secretary and as a deacon. She and her husband were part of a group of friends known as Couples Club who have been gathering once a month since the 1940s and whom Doris thought of as family.
She is survived by her sister, Marjorie Jennette of Matthews, NC; two daughters, Jane Gibson of Damascus, MD, and Bonnie (Robert) Boland of Columbia, SC; four grandchildren, Dr. Michael (Julie Gammill) Gibson of Pittsburgh, Erin McClam of New York, Drew McClam of Charleston, SC, and Elizabeth Gibson of Hanover, NH; two great-grandchildren, Ruby and Everett Gibson.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, April 7, 2007 at West Raleigh Presbyterian Church. Afterward the family will receive visitors in the church fellowship hall.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to West Raleigh Presbyterian Church, 26 Horne Street, Raleigh, NC 27607 or to the American Lung Association of NC, 3801 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 190, Raleigh, NC 27607.
We love you, DeDe -- it's five o'clock somewhere.
www.thompsonsfuneral.com