Doris "Duchess" Balloon

Doris M. “Duchess” Davenport Balloon, 94, a life-long resident of Wooster, passed away Friday, November 23, 2018 at Brookdale of Wooster.

Services will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Roberts Funeral Home-Sherwood Chapel, Wooster with Pastor Jacob Lawson officiating.  Friends may call one hour prior to the service from 10 to 11 a.m. at the funeral home.  Burial will be held at Sherwood Memorial Gardens. Online tributes may be made at www.RobertsFuneralHome.com.   In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Lifecare Hospice at 1900 Akron Rd, Wooster or the Wayne County Humane Society at 1161 Mechanicsburg Rd, Wooster.

Doris was born in Wooster on May 4, 1924 to Clark and Marie Davenport. She was the middle child, with older sister Dorothy and younger brother Donald. Doris graduated from Wooster High School in 1942 and married William Balloon of Rittman in 1943. The WWII years she traveled with Bill, who became a Staff Sergeant in the Marines, was the only time Doris lived outside of Wooster. After the war they returned to Wooster and raised three sons, William, Donald, and Craig.

Naturally athletic and competitive, she was a high school cheerleader and swim team member, and she taught swimming and diving at the YMCA. She loved to dance to the bands of Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey at the Moonlight Ballroom at Meyers Lake. Later, she taught herself golf and played in whatever leagues the College of Wooster offered that season. Doris played bridge with a card-shark focus, was a member of the Mother's Club, and a member of the national women's book club Beta Sigma Phi.

Though Doris had an uneven relationship with the kitchen, her culinary creations carried evocative names – sewer pipes, wing dings – and no one will ever forget her beautiful Christmas cookies gilded with silver balls like buckshot. Known for her spicy verbal outbursts and creatively phrased “Momisms,” she enjoyed roller coasters and singing along with Tom Jones while driving.

While at Brookdale Doris enjoyed watching her favorite programs, Judge Judy and The Big Bang Theory and loved any events involving music. Residents of Brookdale will remember her for her bright red scooter and canine companion Duke.

Surviving are her sons William, Donald, and Craig; granddaughters Jennifer, Victoria, and Allison; grandsons Anthony, Scott and Alexander; great-grandchildren Nathaniel, Grayson, Maddox, Ella Kate, Camden, and Kinley.

She was preceded in death by her grandson Robert and husband William of 67 years.

Doris dearly loved and her family would like to thank her lifelong friends, Vicki and Archie Vitallo, and her wonderful caregiver, companion and friend, Tracy Gingerich.  In addition, the family wishes to thank the incredibly caring staff of Brookdale Assisted Living and LifeCare Hospice of Wooster.