Doris ‘Aletha’ Durrant-Lee
courtesy photo
Doris Durrant-Lee
ST. IGNATIUS – On May 1, 2018, Doris “Aletha” as she preferred to be called, Lee entered the gates of heaven after a long fought battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Aletha was born Dec. 26, 1926, the second of 11 children to Leon and Mary Durrant, in Smithfield, Utah. The family moved to Cornish, Utah in 1933, before moving to Montana in 1937, first landing in the Jocko Valley near Arlee before moving to St. Ignatius in 1941. Aletha graduated from high school in St. Ignatius in 1945. It was in St. Ignatius where she would find her soul mate for all of eternity, Joseph Lee. The couple married on April 13, 1946, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and would later be sealed for all eternity in the Cardston, AB Temple on July 20, 1947. After their wedding in Salt Lake, the couple returned to St. Ignatius on Joe’s 1937 Harley Davidson. The Harley was soon traded for an old pickup, and with money saved up from Joe’s time spent in the Pacific Theater of WWII, they purchased their home place northeast of St. Ignatius where they started a dairy farm. Aletha worked side by side with Joe, whether it be cleaning the milking parlor, picking rock, baling and stacking hay, irrigating, feeding livestock, or any other of the various day-to-day chores. In May of 1947, their first daughter Vicki was born, followed by daughter Frances in 1949, then sons Stanley in 1951, and Mark in 1955.
From the time Aletha was very young, she was a very selfless person, always putting other family members before herself. Being one of the oldest in a family with 11 siblings, she would always get the younger kids dressed, groomed, and ready for school before herself. One year, when her daughters were very young, there was no money at the time for Christmas presents. Aletha cut up one of her own dresses to sew new dresses for Vicki and Fran so that there was something under the tree for them Christmas morning. She was a master seamstress. She made all of her sister's dresses, and later would make all of her children’s clothes, as well as Vicki and Fran’s wedding dresses, never once using a pattern, just cut and sew. Never one to let her family go without, they were always well fed whether there was money to buy groceries or not. Aletha was a true master in the kitchen, providing hearty meals for the family. She would make her own bread, 12 loaves at a time, and with meat and dairy products raised on the farm, and fruits and vegetables raised in her own huge garden, she would lay a huge spread on the table at meal time.
Aletha spent her whole life working side by side with Joe. Together they eventually tripled their acreage, and expanded their dairy herd until they were always milking at least 50 head, twice daily. They continued milking cows for the next 45 years, switching over to a beef cattle operation. All of the while, Aletha never missed out on any of the farm chores, while at the same time raising kids, and later looking after her grandkids. Still, no one would ever find her house unkept, her yard not mowed, nor a single weed in her garden. She was also very active within her church, holding many different positions over the years.
Aletha is preceeded in death by her parents, Leon and Mary Durrant, her brother, Ernie, sisters, Carole, Thelma, Helen, and Margie, and her husband Joe, son Mark, and son-in-law Delmar Carey. Survivors include her brothers Harold, Don, and Wendell, sister Marilyn, daughters Jan (Bob) Swanson, Vicki (Nick) Stevenson, and Frances Carey, son, Stanley (Karen), nine grandkids, 11 great grandkids, and one great, great grandson.
Although we all miss here dearly, her love of family, church, and the heavenly father, and the examples she set forth remains in all of us. The suffering is gone now, you have returned to those you have missed for so long. After a long life lived well here on Earth, may you Rest in Peace.
Services were held Saturday, May 5 at the St. Ignatius Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
