Daily Sitka Sentinel

Celebration of Life Set For Doris Main, Age 57

Doris Annette Main

A celebration of the life of Doris Annette Main will be held 4 p.m. Friday, March 22, at Sitka United Methodist Church. A potluck will follow.
Doris died in Sitka on the morning of March 13, 2019. During her 57 years, she blessed many people as a loyal friend, family member and co-worker and will be missed by many.
Doris Annette Schaefer was born March 25, 1961, in Sitka to Katherine and Jack Schaefer. She went to elementary and middle school at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church school, then attended high school at Auburn Academy in Washington.
As a child, Doris took piano lessons, and enjoyed skating on Swan Lake and participating in school and church events with her friends.
She studied anthropology in college briefly in Washington, which reflected her love of culture that began in Gambell, Alaska, while studying her family’s history through ancient artifacts. In her 30s, she attended nursing school at Bartlesville Wesleyan College (now Oklahoma Wesleyan University). She worked as a nurse in Oklahoma at Barnsdall and Pawhuska nursing homes before returning home to Sitka, where she worked until retirement at SEARHC.
Doris loved music from a very young age, playing piano, singing, dancing, and enjoying the expression of music throughout her life. She was the lead singer in the band Sassy during the booming 1980s Sitka music scene.
She met Alan Crookes at a high school summer camp and married him shortly after, forming what some referred to as AC/DC (Alan and Doris Crookes). During that time, Dawson and Murray were born and the family lived in Gildersleeve logging camps in Southeast.
In another era of her life, she married Miles Main and gained three new children, Stacey, Michelle, and Jeff, and many grandchildren (and now great-grandchildren).
Doris loved everything outdoors, regularly hiking trails, camping, and boating. She loved cleaning fish and would find partners to share a large portion of their fish with her if she would clean, freeze, smoke, and jar the catch. Many people living inside and out of Alaska looked forward to receiving the fish she processed.
Doris was recognizable by her infectious, beautiful smile and warm, loving presence. She was the first one to help people in need, giving freely during hard times. Giving gifts was one of the most prominent ways that she showed love to family and friends. Another way she showed her love was to publicly embarrass family through song and dance.
Doris was preceded in death by her father, Jack Schaefer, her step-father Thomas Anderson, her brother Harold Schaefer, and her ex-husband, Miles Main.
Surviving Doris are her mother, Katherine Anderson; siblings Jack and Wes Schaefer, Thomas Anderson and Kimberly Peacocke; niece and nephew Melody and Benjamin Peacocke; children Dawson and Murray Crookes; and grandchildren Rowan, Aerie, Noah, Alana and Lucia Crookes.
Also surviving are a myriad of cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, extended family, step-family, professional, and chosen family.