Doris (Roulier) McCulloch, a lifelong educator and centenarian, passed away on Thursday, Sept. 29, after living a fulfilling and true American pioneer life. She was 106.
She began her life as Doris Kottke in Big Stone City, South Dakota, on Sept. 7, 1910. She moved with her parents several times to various farms in South and North Dakota and they eventually settled in Velva, North Dakota, where Doris attended elementary and high schools. She obtained a teacher’s certificate from the Minot Normal School and taught in a traditional one-room schoolhouse for several years.
She later met and married Lester Roulier and they successfully farmed and labored together for many years in North Dakota. During World War II they moved to Ferndale, Washington, where Doris got a job teaching 7th grade English and social studies. She taught there for 29 years until her retirement. She was an active member of the Kappa Delta Gamma teaching sorority, remaining a member until her death.
Doris loved to travel, and the couple bought a 32-foot trailer and traveled the United States from New England to Florida and back to Washington. They then retired to California and finally Mesa, Arizona.
After Lester died, Doris was on her own for many years until she met Robert McCulloch, a long-time Bozeman resident who also spent his winters in the same Mesa trailer court. Robert, age 85, proposed to Doris, 82, and they married. They spent two and a half precious years together before Robert died.
Doris spent about ten years in assisted living in Apache Junction, Arizona, before deciding to move to Bozeman with her step-children. She spent the last ten years in Bozeman, recently celebrating her 106th birthday with special honors from the Governor’s Council on Aging.
She is survived by her step-sons, John McCulloch (Janet), Earl McCulloch (Donna Lee) and Ken McCulloch (Donna); a special niece, Judy (Jack) Richardson and their daughter Sandy, who was like a granddaughter; many step-grandchildren, step-great-grandchildren and step-great-great-grandchildren.
She will be buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery of Ferndale. Services will be announced at a later date.
Contact of family can be made through Dahl Funeral Home – Bozeman, Montana.
