Doris Irene (Campbell) Guinnup

Five days short of her 102nd birthday, former Butler, Indiana resident Doris Irene (Campbell) Guinnup died on December 25, 2018 at the Newark Manor Nursing Home in Newark, Delaware, having suffered a stroke that evening.

Doris was born on December 30, 1916, on her parent’s farm in the northeast corner of DeKalb County, Indiana (Troy Township) to Byron James Campbell (1891-1975) and Mary Gertrude Everetts (1892-1942) She was the second of four children born to Byron and Mary (usually referred to as Gertrude, rather than Mary). Doris’s three siblings were Evelyn E. (Campbell) Camp (1915-2013), Byron J. Campbell, Jr.(1919-1999), and Hugh W. Campbell (1922-1989).

Doris loved nature and the outdoors - a love gained partially from participating in gardening and farm work, but also from other sources. Doris often recalled that as a youngster she walked on the dirt road paralleling the eastern bank of Fish Creek in all kinds of weather to attend a one room school with siblings and neighbor children. On this road, in Spring, she was accompanied by the singing and calls of birds, and the smell of freshly awakening vegetation; in Fall, by the wind rustling colorful dry leaves; in the Winter, by an occasional silent white snow fall punctuated by the crunch of footsteps, and periodically interspersed with a nose-chilling roaring blizzard. This journey  took her past a small meadow where family lore alleged that a Native American couple once lived. And, as the legend told, a couple for whom her great-grandmother (Mary Celesta (Haynes) Evertts[1835-1921]) had helped deliver a baby. Doris often reminisced about roaming around family and neighboring woods and fields, and along Fish Creek, to see wildlife and wild-flowers (and perhaps pick a few), and, later in life, to find and harvest wild mushrooms. And as a child in the summer, there was always the swimming hole on Fish Creek to seek simultaneously relief and fun, and occasional family outings to Lake Hamilton. From a young age, Doris was a reader and fan of author and naturalist Gene Straton-Porter. On most Sundays, there were services at the white church up-the-road and around the corner to tell her about the creator of nature and this place.  These are some of the deeply embedded experiences and stories that shaped her, and deepen her connection to, identification with, and appreciation of this corner of northeastern Indiana.

Thanks to the generosity of Bryan and Bernice (Evertts) Jennings, Doris was able to attend and graduate from Hamilton High School in 1935. Initially, she worked some odd jobs, including as a housekeeper for a judge in Angola. A couple of years later she moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana to attend a cosmetology beauty school. After graduating and obtaining a license, she and a girlfriend secured jobs in the Hills department store beauty salon in Marion, Indiana. There she met and married Robert E. Guinnup in 1941. After WWII, Doris and Bob bought a small farmette just outside the city limits of Marion. They had a couple of beef cattle, several sheep, some chickens, fruit trees, walnut trees, a grape arbor, a huge garden, flowers, shade trees, and one 200-year plus oak tree. Doris served as the iconic suburban homemaker throughout the 1950's, managing the house, gardening, helping care for animals, canning and freezing vegetables and fruit, cooking the meals, entertaining guests, and caring for their two children.

In 1960, Doris and Bob were divorced.  Subsequently, she moved the family to an area closer to her roots.  Doris found a job in Butler, Indiana as an aide in a nursing home. The following Spring, Doris bought a house on Walnut Street in Butler where she established both “Guinnup’s Beauty Shop” and, of course, a garden. Here she made new friends, and renewed old friendships and relationships. She continued to work in a number of local nursing homes to supplement her income until her full retirement in the early 1980s. She was always proud that she was able to help assure that her two children graduated from college. For a period of time, she helped care for her daughter’s home and children. Following retirement, she pursued gardening and volunteer work both in the neighborhood and at a local nursing home, and enjoyed traveling and attending Campbell and Evertts family reunions. She even once again picked up her brushes and oil paints to complete a couple of landscape paintings started several decades earlier.

In 1993, Doris moved to Marrows Court Apartments in Newark, Delaware to be closer to her son and his family. She continued to correspond with friends and relatives, make new friends, entertain guests, and enjoy gardening (primarily flowers, but always a couple of tomato plants). She volunteered at Hope Dining Room, and joined the Newark Senior Center. She was an avid reader using both the Newark Free Library and the Newark Senior Center book exchange.

In August of 2015, Doris realized that she could longer live alone and independently. Doris was able to secure residence at Newark Manor where she lived until her recent death.

Doris is preceded in death by her parents and three siblings. Doris is survived by her son David (Diana) of Bear, DE and her daughter Sharon (Rick) Forlano of Sugar Land, TX; and, grandchildren Kelsey Guinnup of Philadelphia, PA, Maj. Geoffrey (Megan) Guinnup of Fort Bliss, TX, Christopher Guinnup of Baltimore, MD, and Brian Krontz, Jr. and Jill (Ryan) DeVido both of Missouri City, TX.  Doris leaves behind four great-grandchildren, and many cousins.

A visitation/viewing will be held by the family on May 17, 2019 between 4:00 and 7:00 P.M. at the H.E. Johnson & Sons Funeral Home in Butler, Indiana (212 N. Broadway). 

Doris will be brought home to her beloved Troy Township with a Memorial Service on Saturday, May 18, 2019 at 11:00 A.M. at the Corner of Zion church (7997 County Road 4A, Hamilton, Indiana) followed by interment at the Eddy Cemetery (7254 County Road 4A, Hamilton, Indiana).

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Association (https://www.alz.org/).  For further details and online condolences visit https://www.hejohnsonfh.com/.

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