The Doris Family (summer 2001)
Fern Isabella, 1907-1994, aged 86
Fern was named Isabella after her father’s mother, but was called Fern by her mother after a girl Jennie knew from her Calgary days as a youngster. After finishing Continuation school (grades 9 and 10) in Keene she worked at home for a year. The principal of the Campbellford Secondary School came door to door to solicit students from Keene to complete their secondary education there. She and her sister, Bertha, walked to the Keene Station, caught the train, and then had to walk two miles from the station to the school, thus missing classes till her arrival at 10:00 a.m. She stayed after school till the train left at night at 7:00 p.m., giving her time to do her homework. A pass cost $3.40 a month. Three girls from Keene boarded in Campbellford in the winter, with each one bringing food. Mom supplied the meat.
To get extra money Fern raised turkeys. She would take four or five dressed turkeys to Joplin Butchers at Christmas time by the train. Bertha raised geese.
Joe McCarthy has a trophy from the Norwood Fair of 1925 still on display at the farm. It was awarded to the Keene girls’ softball team for which Fern played first base and her sister, Bertha, pitched.
After graduating from the Peterborough Teachers College she taught in Keene and had the distinction of teaching several of her siblings in the early 1930s before she married Earl Doris in 1935. She was a keen historian, especially on local history, and on local families. She kept daily diaries, and was an avid reader. She was proud of developing with my father a herd of outstanding Holstein cattle that won prizes at the Peterborough Exhibition. She was a founder of the Keene Chapter of the Women’s Institute, being the first President in 1951.
Fern Doris' kids
Fern and Earl Doris had four children:
- James Earl, 1936
- Francis Eugene, 1938
- Mary Joanne, 1939
- Aileen Isabel, 1945
