ZEBULON, NC -- Doris Louise Gratzer Willette passed away peacefully at home in her sleep on Friday September 22, 2023, of natural causes. She was 91 years old.

Doris was born in Syracuse, New York on January 26, 1932, to Howard and Loretta Masset Gratzer. She was a devoted daughter, mother, wife, and employee.

She spent over 40 years of her life working in the pharmaceutical world, first for Bristol Laboratories in Syracuse, New York, where she met her husband-to-be, George Willette. They raised their family on Onondaga Hill, and then took off for the warmer climate of Wendell, North Carolina. There Doris worked for Glaxo Smith-Kline in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

In her childhood, she spent joyful times at Otisco Lake in Upstate New York, swimming, canoeing, and playing pinochle with her beloved cousins, Ginny and Rosemary Braungart. She dreamed of living on a lake all her life.

After her retirement in 1995, she and George moved to Clarksville, Virginia, to a home that George built on Kerr Lake. They remained there until moving in with their devoted granddaughter, Genevieve Willette, in 2020. Her first priority was always her family. She didn't know how to cook - she said when she was growing up, everybody said that the future was ready-made food and cooking was going to be obsolete!

But when she had her family, she learned! She made a great lasagna, and her cheesecake was to die for!

Doris enjoyed a wonderful extended family in Syracuse and was especially close to Virginia Braungart Brunet and her great-aunt, Virginia Clisson. When George and Doris moved to Kerr Lake, they became an integral part of the Ponderosa development community for the next twenty-five years.

She was loved by all who met her. She greeted anyone she met with a smile and was always happy to see you. She especially loved babies, and if one was near, she had to hold and cuddle the child.

If you needed something, she found a way to help you. She enjoyed reading, working with children, doing puzzles and taking daily walks. If you said, "boat ride", she would get up, get her hat, and get to the boat before anyone else.

Birds and hummingbirds lit her days up with joy when she saw them outside the window. She had a love for playing card games while drinking a glass of wine.

Her granddaughter Genevieve, who took care of her for over 4 years, considered Doris her best friend. Her passing has left a vacuum in Genevieve's life, and in all our lives.

She is pre-deceased by her parents, and her siblings Paul Gratzer, Clara Kemp, and Terry Gratzer.

She is survived by her children, Loretta Williams, Doreen Williams, and Gary Willette, five grandchildren: Gary Willette, Genevieve Willette, Daniel Willette, Isabelle Biehl, and Emerson Biehl, five great-grandchildren: Marcus Willette, Addison Willette, Haley Holsclaw, Jordan Willette and Josh Westmoreland, and one great-great-grandchild: Bailee Holsclaw.

There will be a private viewing on Friday, October 6, 2023 at 1 p.m. at Massey Funeral Home, 913 N. Arendell Ave., Zebulon NC 27597, followed by services at 2 p.m. at Gethsemane Memorial Gardens, 809 W. Gannon Ave., Zebulon, NC 27597. There will be a life of celebration to follow at Genevieve's home.

Paid obituary