Doris Elaine Tillotson was born at the beginning of spring at Barre City Hospital on April 19, 1945. She passed peacefully at the height of summer in Burlington, Vt., on July 25, 2025. She was 80 years old.
She was born the first child of Jeanette and Raymond Tillotson and grew up in Waits River, Vt.
Doris was a giver and a helper. She obtained her license in clinical social work in 1982 and was employed at the University of Vermont Medical Center, the Visiting Nurse Association and later on as a psychotherapist in private practice.
Listening and understanding people’s challenges came easily to Doris. Her empathy was without end, and her advice was always straightforward, clear and compassionate.
Doris had many talents and interests: Reading, sewing, cooking, camping, gardening, languages, genealogy, classical music and travel were some of the ways she embraced life.
Doris had many friends, but the most dear to her was her lifelong companion, former Chittenden County senator Janet S. Munt. They shared adventures and escapades too numerous to mention.
Doris and Janet had a very special bond, a friendship for the ages, lasting close to 50 years. Doris shared in the delights of Janet’s family, attending weddings and welcoming grandchildren as her own.
Over 20 years of annual camping at Grand Isle State Park and many trips to Racquette Lake; vacations to Saint John and Wareham, Mass.; and the trip of a lifetime to England, they created an abundance of happy memories.
Doris will be remembered for her loud laughter, her quick wit, her love of fun and adventure, her deep well of empathy and compassion, and her big soft hugs.
Doris was preceded in death by her father, Raymond Tillotson, and her mother, Jeanette (Batten) Tillotson, and her dear friend Janet Munt.
Doris is survived by her siblings, Steve Tillotson and Linda (Salomaa) Tillotson of East Corinth, Vt., and Rachel Tillotson and Charlie Schaufus of Florida; her daughter, Sara Katherine Hunter of Minnesota; three grandchildren, Cassy, Heather and Hunter; and six great-grandchildren, Amelia, Nora, Jordyn, Jamier, India and Jayden.
She was the treasured aunt to three nieces: Angela Knapp of Essex, Vt., Allison (Knapp) Hawke of Hanover, N.H., and Lisa (Tillotson) Samsom of Montpelier, Vt., and a great-aunt to Justin and Micaela Clapp, Oliver and Carter Hawke, and Anja and Maaika Samsom.
A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, August 16, 2025, 2 p.m., at the Essex Center United Methodist Church, 119 Center Rd. in Essex Junction. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Janet S. Munt Family Room, Burlington, Vt.
Arrangements are in the care of Ready Funeral & Cremation Services. To share online condolences, please visit readyfuneral.com.
This article appears in Seven Daysies 2025.