Doris Johnson Tyldesley

Tyldesley—Doris Johnson Tyldesley, 75, on December 29, 2024, in Tempe, Ariz. Doris was born on November 9, 1949, to Sam and Emily Johnson in Ashton-under-Lyne, England. She was a star pupil at the local elementary school and at 11 years of age passed the entrance examination for Manchester High School for Girls. Doris was exceptional in math and sciences, and in 1968 was accepted into Lady Margaret Hall, a women’s college at the University of Oxford.

While in high school Doris read an advertisement in The Guardian titled “Why do Quakers make Chocolate?”, and wrote for more information about Quakers. Her school principal, who was a Quaker, also influenced her interest in the Religious Society of Friends. Doris attended her first meeting for worship after enrolling at Oxford in 1968. Doris met Roger Tyldesley at Oxford Meeting. He was a student at the university, also studying physics. After 18 months together, they became engaged.

Her mother died before Doris’s final term. After Doris graduated, Roger’s mother insisted that Doris move in with the Tyldesley family. Doris took up residence in a spare bedroom.

Doris and Roger married on September 4, 1971, at the meetinghouse in Eccles. They bought a house in Brentwood and attended Brentwood Meeting, which they eventually joined. Doris began her career in Brentwood as a research engineer. She didn’t enjoy the work, so was easily recruited away by a member of Brentwood Meeting to teach high school physics. In 1978, Doris and Roger moved to Glasgow, Scotland, for Roger’s new job with Motorola. They transferred their membership to West of Scotland Meeting. Their children, Kate and John, were born while the Tyldesleys lived in Glasgow.

Motorola gave Roger a temporary training assignment to Arizona. While in Arizona, Doris and Roger attended Tempe Meeting in Danforth Chapel on the Arizona State University campus. At the completion of Roger’s training assignment, they returned to the United Kingdom. When the factory where Roger was working closed, he took a permanent position with Motorola in Arizona. Doris and Roger applied for U.S. citizenship and transferred their membership to Tempe Meeting in 1985. Doris served on the Children’s Religious Education Committee, the Ministry and Counsel Committee, and the yearly meeting committee that drafted the first Intermountain Faith and Practice. She oversaw the production of many Christmas plays, putting her singing voice and love of performance into service for the meeting. She sang soprano in the ASU Choral Union, a similar level of challenge as that offered by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus where she had also sung. Doris worked for ten years as an administrative assistant in the senior adult program at Scottsdale Community College.

In 2006, Roger took a job with a company in Minnesota. Doris became active in Minneapolis Meeting, serving on the Worship and Ministry Committee.

In 2014, Doris and Roger moved back to Arizona and rejoined Tempe Meeting, where Doris served on the Worship and Ministry Committee. In 2019, they moved to Friendship Village, a life care community. Doris significantly reduced her large collection of books, but continued her lifelong love affair with J.R.R. Tolkien. At Friendship Village, she also enjoyed singing in the choir; helping care for the Tyldesleys’ beloved cat, Tosca; and perambulating the hallways to enjoy the creative ways residents decorated their entry areas.

Doris is survived by her husband, Roger Tyldesley; two children, Kate (Stephen) and John (Amanda); two grandchildren; her brother-in-law, Alan, and sister-in-law, Sue; and several nieces and nephews.