ForeverMissed
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Her Life
January 22, 2016

Dorris Clifford Pooley of Three Rivers, California passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 29, 2013, in Visalia due to complications from a stroke that she suffered on June 15. She was 91.

Dorris was born November 26, 1921, in Berkeley, Ca. to Kenneth Ross Clifford and Dorothy Miller Clifford. She was the youngest of three children.

Dorris was raised on the family farm west of Strathmore, Ca. with her parents; two brothers, Kenneth Clifford Jr. and Norman Clifford; and cousin Jack Miller. She attended Prairie Center Grade School and Strathmore Union High School.

She graduated from the College of the Pacific (present-day University of the Pacific) in Stockton, Ca. with a degree in education. Following her graduation from college, Dorris taught elementary school in Fresno, Ca. briefly before en-listing in the U.S. Navy in January 1944 during World War II.

She was a member of the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) stationed in Pasco, Wa., and worked in the control tower. She was an air traffic controller for Navy pilots who were being trained for day and night aircraft carrier landings.

While in Pasco, Dorris met her future husband, Richard "Dick" Pooley of Hood River, Oregon. She completed her military service in January 1946.

In June 1946, she and Dick were married in Stockton.  Following the birth of her two children, William Pooley and John Pooley, the couple settled in Portland, Oregon., where she furthered her education to become a speech therapist.

Dorris returned to teaching in 1955, this time as a speech therapist for Portland Public Schools. She eventually taught in the special education program.

In 1978, Dorris moved back to Tulare County, California where she took up residence in the family vacation home in Three Rivers, the home that she and her brothers had built on their parents’ property in 1965. She continued her career by teaching special education for Visalia, Ca. Unified School District.

Dorris retired from her 31-year teaching career in 1986 and enjoyed the time she had to follow her many passions. She loved working in her garden along the Kaweah River.

Sewing was her lifelong hobby and as an accomplished seamstress she always had numerous projects in the works. After retirement she took up square dancing where her homemade dresses were always better than her ability to follow the calls.

Three Rivers was always the place she called home and the place she loved so dearly.

Dorris was preceded in death by her parents, brother Kenneth Clifford Jr., and her son, John Randolph Pooley.

She is survived by her son, William Pooley, and wife Ingrid of Aloha, Or., and Three Rivers, Ca.; and brother Norman Clifford of Concrete, Wa.

A visitation was held Sunday, July 28, at the Webb-Sanders Funeral Home, 163 S. Mirage Ave., Lindsay, Ca.  A graveside service was held Monday, July 29, at the Lindsay-Strathmore Cemetery, 639 S. Foothill Ave., Lindsay, Ca..

The above obituary was published in The Kaweah Commonwealth, Three Rivers, Ca. July 19, 2013. 

Dorris was followed in death by her former husband Dick Pooley on October 26, 2015.
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