Doris A. Dowling

Hastings resident Doris A. Dowling, 91, passed away Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at Perkins Pavilion Good Samaritan Society-Hastings Village, Hastings, NE.  

Services of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m. Saturday, June 24, at First United Methodist Church in Hastings with Rev. Lance Clay officiating. Burial will be 3:30 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at Randolph Cemetery, Randolph, NE, officiated by Pastor Judy Carlson. Visitation will be 1-7 p.m. with family present 5-7 p.m. Friday, June 23, at the funeral home, and one hour before the service at the church. Memorials may be given to First United Methodist Church. The service will be live-streamed on Livingston Butler Volland Funeral Home’s website. To view the service, go to Doris’s obituary and click the play button shown towards the bottom of the page.

Doris was born January 27, 1932, to William and Nina (Castor) Cunningham on a farm five and one-half miles north of Randolph, NE. She was baptized and confirmed in the Randolph Methodist Church. Doris attended District 93 Cedar County School, graduating eighth grade then attended Randolph High School where she was inducted into the National Honor Society and graduated in May 1950. As an adult, she joined the Methodist Chapter EA, PEO, Methodist Women’s Society, and several Church Circles. On October 28, 1950, Doris married William “Bill” C. Dowling. Doris and Bill had 63 wonderful years together before he passed.

Doris worked as a bookkeeper and clerk for the carpenter crew at Carhart Lumber in Randolph, NE, where Bill was the manager. She held this position for 17 years until Bill took a job in Hastings, NE with Wheelers St. Regis Lumber, as a salesman. Doris then went to work in November 1974 for the State of Nebraska in the Patient Trust Office at Hastings Regional Center for 22 ½ years, until retiring in July 1996. From 1996-2022 she volunteered weekly at First United Methodist Church.

Doris’s family came first. She was a homemaker and mother to her two sons. Her hobbies, which she dearly loved, were cooking, baking, and canning, and she was known by her family, friends, work, and church for planning large functions with BIG MEALS including baked rolls, decorated cakes, pies, cookies, meatballs, and potato salad.

Doris was preceded in death by her parents; husband, William “Bill” Dowling; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Orville & Mildred Dowling; three infant daughters, Debra Ann, Sally Sue, and Trudi Ferrel; son, Terry Dowling; great-grandson, Blake Shipman; great-granddaughter, Peony Dowling; grandson-in-law, Michael Maggart; sisters and spouses, Aulda Cunningham, Vera & Rick Remington, Velma & Norton Dowling, Mary “Eva” & Jim Dowling, Irma & Clarence Remington, Helen Burgel, Leila & LeRoy Brummels, Audrey & George Hinrichs, Flo & Paul Lenzen, and Wilma & Fred Weimers; and brothers and spouse, Boyd & Ellen Cunningham and Dale Cunningham.

SURVIVORS:

Son & Daughter-in-law:                    
    Danny & Debra Dowling – Hastings, NE

Grandchildren & Spouse:                  
    Travis & Trinity Dowling – Omaha, NE

    Melissa Maggart – Hastings, NE

Honorary Granddaughter:
    Brenda Vap - Hastings, NE
Great-Grandchildren:                        
    D’Andre Shipman – Hastings, NE

    Quorra Maggart – Hastings, NE

    Michael (Canaan) Maggart – Hastings, NE

    Zella Dowling – Omaha, NE

    Abraham Dowling – Omaha, NE

    Karson Kinnaman – Omaha, NE

    Maverick Dowling – Omaha, NE

    Emery Dowling – Omaha, NE

Sister & Brother-in-law:                   
    Alice & John Moehlenhoff – Creighton, NE

Sisters-in-law & Spouse:                   
    Betty Cunningham – Norfolk, NE
    Angie & Lyle Neuhart – Wisner, NE
Numerous Nieces & Nephews