Nancy Doris Veronda Doss

Nancy Doris (Veronda) Doss Nancy Doris (Veronda) Doss went to be with God on August 13, 2021 at the age of 83. Nancy was born in Lead, SD on October 28, 1937, the daughter of Frank and Viola (Stephens) Veronda. Nancy came from a family of miners who worked underground at the Homestake Gold Mine in Lead. Then, after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, her father went to Hawaii to help rebuild it. Nancy’s mother packed up her four children and drove from South Dakota to California to be closer to Nancy’s father, taking up residence in her grandmother’s basement in San Diego. When her father returned home, the family moved into the projects in Oakland until her parents earned and saved enough money to afford a home. Nancy was working as a waitress at Zerikote’s Lake Merritt Dining Room in Oakland in 1955 when she met a young U.S. Marine sergeant, Robert “Alan” Doss, who had just returned from service in Korea. He was staying with the family of one of Nancy’s co-workers when they started dating. After a whirlwind romance, they were married on November 25, 1955 in Kingman, AZ. After Alan was discharged from the Marine Corps, he enrolled in chiropractic college in the Chicago area where they both worked while Alan attended college. Nancy worked as a clerk-typist for Remington Rand. Then after her first two children were born, she went to work as an IBM key punch operator and bill clerk for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. After she gave birth to their third child, Alan and Nancy moved to Effingham in south-central Illinois where Alan established his Chiropractic practice. There, Nancy was active in the PTA, became the chapter president, and gave birth to the couple’s fourth child. Then in 1965, Alan sold his practice in Effingham and moved his family to nearby Newton where Alan had already opened and operated a satellite practice in addition to his practice in Effingham. Nancy worked as a chiropractic assistant in his office. She was also a dedicated genealogist, working alongside her mother and grandmother and touring courthouses and cemeteries while corresponding with county clerks to trace the family history. When Nancy decided to pursue a career in education in the early 1980s, she commuted to Charleston, IL in order to earn her bachelor’s degree at Eastern Illinois University. When Alan’s health led them to move to Bullhead City, AZ, Nancy got a job at Mohave High School to teach business education and supervise the school’s cooperative education program. Soon afterward, she earned her master’s degree from Northern Arizona University and her supervisor, principal, and superintendent certifications from the state of Arizona. In addition to her regular high school teaching duties, she taught evening classes at Mohave Valley Community College and Northern Arizona University. She later became a school district administrator as Director of Special Projects and Vocational Education where she wrote grants and administered the programs they funded. When she retired from education in 1996, she moved to Cantonment, FL to be near her family. The move also gave her the opportunity to pursue another passion as she served as a USO volunteer in Pensacola. In 2009, she was named USO Volunteer of the Year and was saluted as an “Angel in Our Midst” on WEAR-TV 3 for her selfless service as a USO volunteer. Nancy’s childhood was heavily influenced by hard work and the perseverance of a family that scratched and sacrificed for everything it had. She married young and worked tirelessly to help her husband succeed while she helped feed, clothe, house, and raise their children, which she did with great devotion. Then, she proved that a person could accomplish all of those things then still find the energy, drive, and initiative to carve out and find success in her own professional career. She provided an excellent example through her courage, her determined spirit, and her unflinching faith in God, all of which she held onto until she drew her last breath. Nancy was preceded in death by her husband of 33 years, Robert Alan Doss, Sr., her parents, her sister Alyce Jones, and her brother Harold Veronda. She is survived by son Robert (Christina) Doss, Jr. of Cantonment, FL, son Michael (Eileen) Doss of Cantonment, FL, daughter Susan Doss-Sheater of Pensacola, FL, son Frank (Marilyn) Doss of Richmond, VA, ten grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. She is also survived by brothers Frank (Janet) Veronda, Jr. and Donald (Romaine) Veronda and her Aunt Delores Veronda. Visitation will be held at Faith Chapel Funeral Home at 1000 S. Highway 29 in Cantonment, FL on Thursday, August 19th from 6:00-8:00 pm. A Catholic funeral Mass will be held Friday, August 20th at 10:00 am at Nativity of our Lord Catholic Church in Pensacola. She will be interred beside her husband at Desert Lawn Cemetery in Mohave Valley, AZ. In lieu of flowers, charitable contributions in Nancy’s memory may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital (www.stjude.org).

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Nancy Doris Veronda Doss

October 28, 1937 - August 13, 2021