Donald Doss, 80, in Oct. 2022 (first adopted child in "The Family Nobody Wanted")

[Lenona]

I posted this in 2008 for Helen Doss' 90th birthday:

https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.books.childrens/c/pRqrE3rgW9E/m/VT1Mb1yW-csJ
(this includes a video from Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life")

It's had 1,635 views so far! Wow.

(But I messed up. The encyclopedias said she was born in 1918, but she was born in 1915. She died in 2013.)

So anyway, in 2008, I received a kind email and family photo from Donald's wife, Sharon. Unfortunately, I never got to meet them - I would have loved to hear any funny stories that weren't in the book. Also, the main reason Donald ended up with 11 siblings was that he kept begging for "a brother the size of me." (Helen kept finding and taking in kids that weren't the right age but that no one wanted - usually because they were of mixed race.)

2022 obituary:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/pressdemocrat/name/donald-doss-obituary?id=37644035
(with photo)

Donald Owen Doss, age 80, passed on October 31, 2022 in Santa Rosa, CA. Don was born in Los Angeles, CA and adopted as an infant by Reverend Carl Doss and his wife Helen. He graduated from Elsinore Naval & Military Academy where he was class valedictorian. He loved his family and gardening, but his real passion was computers. He began his long career at the dawn of the computer age in 1967. He was very proud of his two children and his three grandchildren. Don's parents went on to adopt 11 more children. Don's family gained national and international notoriety after his mother Helen Doss wrote a book chronicling the family's experience called "The Family Nobody Wanted". Survived by his wife Sharon Doss, Santa Rosa, CA and children, daughter Noelle Doss Leonard (Ian), grandchildren Matilda and Owen Leonard, Perth, Western Australia, and son Derek Doss (Lindsay) granddaughter Willa Doss, Santa Rosa, CA. Also survived by siblings Dorothy Lopez, Elaine Flanigan (Dan), Ted Doss (Martha), Lora Jaramillo (Guido), Susan Vorderstrasse, Rita Villarreal, Diane Doss, Timothy Doss (Nancy), Julie Lindholm, Lucy Krantz, Nancy, John and Mark Mapes. Predeceased by his brothers, Richard, Gregory and Alex Doss. A private memorial service for the family will be held.
Published by Press Democrat on Nov. 20, 2022.

https://adventuresofgrandmahoney.blogspot.com/2015/02/what-ever-happened-to-don-doss.html
(some great information, plus a photo of Don from 1963!)

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/245258385/donald-owen-doss
(includes information about his three deceased brothers and his parents)

[Lenona]

Julie Lindholm, Lucy Krantz, Nancy, John and Mark Mapes.

I found out that all of those were Maxine Mapes's children - she apparently had them before she met Carl Doss and became his second wife.

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-bernardino-county-sun-obituary-f/42264070/
(Carl Doss' 1994 obit, with photo - he was 80)

[Lenona]

And this has lyrics by Ted Doss, based on the song "Coal Miner's Daughter"!

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119620634/carl-marvin-doss


And this has a photo of the California house they moved to in 1953 (not clear if it's in Boonville or not):

https://grabthelapels.com/2019/03/28/the-family-nobody-wanted/

Plus a lovely photo of all twelve of the kids on a jungle gym!

I think Dorothy and Teddy are the ones at the top.

Don is at the upper right. That's likely Rita on the middle left, and Susie is wearing the striped dress. Gregory is at the bottom.

Carl and Helen divorced in 1964, though others say it was in 1966 (not likely).

The comments also mention Josephine Baker's "Rainbow Tribe."

https://leavesandpages.com/2013/09/06/review-the-family-nobody-wanted-by-helen-doss/
(a quieter review of the book)