Betty Doris Arrington Strickland

OZARK…     Betty “Doris” Arrington Strickland entered into her Heavenly home on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Westside Terrace, Dothan, Alabama. She was 92 years old.

            Funeral services will be held at 4:00 P.M. Monday, April 29, 2024, at Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home Chapel with Chaplain Charles Goldsmith officiating. Burial will follow in Woodlawn Memory Gardens. Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home of Ozark is in charge of arrangements. The family will receive friends from 3:00 until 4:00 P.M. on Monday at the funeral home.

            Doris was born on January 24, 1932, in Daleville, Alabama. She was the fourth-born child to Alto Jackson Arrington and Luila Faircloth Arrington. She married the love of her life, Edsel Coolidge Strickland, on January 30, 1950, and was a devoted wife for seventy three years. They made their family home in Ozark, Alabama where she was a homemaker. She was a loving mother to her two sons, Michael E. Strickland (Donna) and Randal C. Strickland, a devoted Granny to her grandchildren, Kimberly Ann Strickland and Natalie Nicole McCord, Dennis McCord, and great-grandchildren, Taylor and Eli McCord.

             In her younger years, she was a leader in the Girls in Action of her church group where she took the girls on trips and helped the girls earn their GA badges. She loved teaching the Intermediate Sunday School Class at church and affectionately called them, “her girls.” She was active in the Women on Mission Union and served in various capacities. Doris would hold quilting bees at her home with her quilting friends and made the best memories while hand stitching her masterpieces. She loved to fish in the family pond and would never have a “throwback”, no matter the size of the fish. She also enjoyed bowling where she bowled on a Wednesday morning league in Dothan. She was well known for sending cards and homemade crocheted gifts to her friends and family for many special occasions. She was an avid reader and enjoyed working word search puzzles. She enjoyed cheering for the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Atlanta Braves. Above all, she took care of her family. Her face would light up the room when her grandchildren and great-grandchildren came for a visit. Doris was a faithful member of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Ozark.

             Doris was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and granddaughter, Kimberly Ann Strickland; brothers, James Daniel Arrington and Sylvester Clyde Arrington and sisters, Mary Louise Arrington Christopher and Evelyon Joyce Arrington Merritt.

           Surviving relatives include her two sons, Michael Edsel Strickland and his wife Donna, and Randal Craig Strickland; her granddaughter, Natalie McCord, and her husband, Dennis; two great-grandsons, Taylor and Eli McCord; two brothers-in-law, Billy Strickland (Myrlene) and Donald Strickland (Linda); a sister-in-law, Janie Payne; several nieces and nephews.

            Serving as active pallbearers will be Wes Strickland, Wade Strickland, Bill Strickland, Tommy Farmer, David Shipman, and Mike Wolfe.

            The family would like to thank Westside Terrace staff and Gentiva Hospice staff for their loving care provided during her extended illness.

      Flowers will be accepted or donations can be made to your favorite charity in her honor.