Hazel Meeks Doerr

Hazel Meeks Doerr

July 21, 1932 – May 12, 2023

Hazel Meeks Doerr passed away on May 12, 2023, at North Big Horn Hospital in Lovell, surrounded by loved ones. 

She was born to Edward Dalton Meeks and Emma LuLu Harrison on July 21, 1932, in Cowley at her grandparents’ home. Hazel grew up in Lovell in a log house that her dad built. She and her mother would often walk up the canal bank to visit family out on the farm. During this time her mother instilled a lifelong love of nature, which Hazel shared with her children and grandchildren.

After graduating from Lovell High School, Hazel attended Brigham Young University, where she met her future husband, Robert “Bob” Doerr. She graduated from BYU with a degree in Education and began teaching in Parowan, Utah. She taught there for one year before getting married. Bob and Hazel were married on May 30, 1958, in the St. George Utah temple. They began their married life together in Lyman, Wyoming, and eventually moved back to the Big Horn Basin and settled in Byron, where they raised their six children. 

Before the children arrived, Hazel taught third grade in Cowley. While raising her family, she would often substitute in Byron. When the twins were in first grade, she accepted a position teaching kindergarten in Lovell. She truly loved teaching kindergarten and enjoyed working with the other elementary teachers. She retired from teaching in 1994.

Hazel had a caring heart and was quick to pitch in and help with caring for grandchildren, even when it required traveling long distances. She also spent many years taking care of her mother until her mother’s passing.

She is survived by her husband of nearly 65 years, Robert R. Doerr, and her children Carl (Jacque) Doerr of Lovell, Robert J. (Carol) Doerr of Tooele, Utah, Margo Doerr of Byron, Sandra (Mike) Negro of Round Rock, Texas, Barbara (Casey) Walker of Lowell, Indiana, and Beverly (Todd) Wacaser, currently of Sydney, Australia. She is also survived by 15 grandchildren (Chris, Tiera, Jessica, RJ, Samantha, Don, Matthew, Shantelle, Dominique, Casey Dalton, Madaleine, Shealynn (Cade), Scott, Blake and Toby) and 3.75 great-grandchildren (Skyler, Hazel, Harper and one great-grandson who is due in August). 

She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings Marilyn and Grant.