Doris Hyldon died peacefully at her home in DeKalb, Illinois, on June 28, 2024, surrounded by her family. Doris was born in Galashiels, Scotland, on November 16, 1925, the youngest child of John and Annie Donaldson. She attended nursing school in Edinburgh, and upon completion of her nursing qualification she took a job in the relatively new field of industrial nursing, working for British Titan Products in Grimsby, England. One day, a young, bespectacled co-worker came into her office seeking treatment for what a friend later referred to as a “suspicious scrape,” but another version of the story is that Doris was paired with that young man on the company tennis team. However it was that they met, Doris and Roy Hyldon fell in love, and they married on March 1, 1954.

Just two months later, the newlyweds boarded a ship to begin a new life in the United States, where they arrived on May 5, 1954, settling in Columbus, Ohio. Roy enrolled in classes at Ohio State University, and Doris learned to drive and worked in the children’s wing of a local hospital. They had three daughters—Lynn, Jill, and Anne. When Roy got a job at Quaker Oats Co. in 1965, the family moved to Crystal Lake, Illinois. Doris returned to her nursing studies at Elgin Community College in order to gain full nursing qualifications in the U.S., and she became a registered nurse in 1967 and worked at McHenry Hospital. She later completed a bachelor’s degree in library science from Northern Illinois University.

While in Crystal Lake, Doris gave birth to her fourth child, Scott. Doris, Roy, Lynn, and Scott moved to Bloomington, Minnesota in 1979 when Roy took a new job at Pillsbury. Doris once again sought new adventures, taking classes in nutrition at Normandale Community College and working in the administrative offices of B. Dalton.

After Roy died in 1992, Doris decided to return to Illinois, moving to DeKalb in 1993. Among her criteria for choosing a place to live was the desire to be near family and to live somewhere with an active intellectual and artistic community. She attended concerts and plays in DeKalb and Chicago. She traveled often and widely. She enjoyed trips with her children but was also not afraid to travel on her own. She loved the adventure and learning atmosphere of Elderhostel tours, and she made it her mission, even though she was not born in the U.S., to travel to all fifty states—a goal she achieved.

Doris lived a life of service. While in DeKalb she was an active volunteer with Northern Illinois Radio Information Service (NIRIS) for twenty years, reading the newspaper aloud as part of a weekly radio show on WNIJ. She volunteered in the gift shop at DeKalb County Nursing Home and at Westminster Presbyterian Church, where she also served as a deacon. She donated her time to repairing books at the Sycamore Public Library. She also loved cooking and making large holiday meals, feasts enjoyed, remembered, and celebrated by friends and family members over the decades.

She also believed strongly that “ya’ gotta keep moving,” and that’s just what she did well into her 90s. She was a member of the YMCA, where she participated in Silver Sneakers and took classes in water aerobics. She remained a life-long learner. Her many friends and family members consider her to be the epitome of a life well-lived.

Doris was preceded in death by parents, sister Rita and brother Walter, and beloved husband Roy.

She is survived by her children and their spouses: Lynn (Kelley), Jill, Anne (Matt), and Scott; grandson Josh and his spouse Michele; great-granddaughters Briana and Chloe.

 A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m. on September 28, 2024, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 830 N. Annie Glidden Rd., DeKalb.

In lieu of flowers, Doris has requested donations to the American Cancer Society (https://donate.cancer.org/).

 For additional information, contact Anderson Funeral Home, www.andersonfuneralhomeltd.com.