Geraldeen (Gammell) Doman

 With heavy hearts and great sadness, we announce the passing of Geraldeen Doman, better known as honey, Mom, Grandma, and friend. Gerri passed away surrounded by love and family in the early morning of August 1st, 2024 in Murray, UT. She was born in Mapleton, UT. to Carrie Elizabeth and William Ray Gammell on November 20th, 1932. She was 91 years young. 

 Throughout her life, Gerri was known for her kindness & dedication to family. She was a true example of unconditional love and care. There was never a person who she didn’t show compassion and love towards. She was a beloved Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Grandma, Grandma Great, Aunt, and friend, who’s generosity and warmth touched anyone she crossed paths with. She did not look at others as strangers, she looked at them as someone she could talk to, help, feed, learn from, and love.

 Gerri cherished her childhood growing up in the small town of Copperton where she enjoyed the simplicity of life. She and her 2 sisters, Lola Jean and Erma June, loved spending time together and felt lucky to have their big brother Blake, looking over them in their loving home. Gerri attended and graduated from Bingham High School in Copperton where she was a very hardworking and good student. She developed lifelong friendships with many, but particularly with Margene Barlow and Doris Poulsen. This was a friendship that would carry on for all of the trio’s lives. They would often travel together with their husbands in their trailers throughout the west. Copperton is also where Gerri would meet her lifelong sweetheart, Norman Doman, in kindergarten. These two would develop a connection and love that only seems to be real in movies and fairytales. It is truly more amazing than anything imaginable and what anyone would be fortunate enough to have. After a lengthy childhood courtship, Gerri and Norm would make the choice to elope in Las Vegas the day after graduation. In Norm’s words, “it was stupid, but he wouldn’t change a thing”. Gerri loved Norm with all her heart and soul always. Although they shared a marriage for 73 years, they have been in love so much longer. Both of them have mentioned that they love each other more now than ever.

 As a young couple, they made a life in the “nicest house in town” in Copperton because of how they took care of it. The care and pride they had in their possessions and self is shown in everything around them. Copperton held a very special place in Gerri’s heart. She shared great pride in the area that she grew up and started her own family in. With her father and husband working for the mine, Kennecott was a large part of her life. She enjoyed visiting the area often, with the most recent trip last year. She always saw beauty in the scarred mountainside where the mine lays. Eventually Gerri and Norm would buy a home in Midvale where they would raise 3 children; Mark, Kirk, and Dana. This is the same home she would live in for the rest of her life. 

 Gerri was a devout mother. She did all she was capable of in raising her family the right way and helping them to become successful. Gerri never let any sort of frustration with her kids get in the way of her relationship with Norm. They would never fight because of the kids. Mom was a voice of reason and was able to hold any frustration she had internally when disciplining the kids. She limited her punishments or grounding and did not show anger or disappointment easily. Even when her boys pushed her buttons with their “wild” behavior, Mom never scolded them, leaving that to Dad while setting an example of better choices. Instead of making the kids go clean their rooms, Mom would simply suggest it to them and hope that eventually they would take the hint. She was very trusting as a mother and as long as she knew where the kids were, she felt content. She was very welcoming of her children’s friends into her home and always tried to be close to those who were important to her children. She shared stories of her children’s friends and childhood often with the family. She loved watching Kirk play baseball and supported him at all his games cheering loudly. When he brought his future wife MaryAnn home to meet the family, he was bursting with pride and Mom knew she was just what her Kirk needed. She enjoyed time at Kirk and MaryAnn’s cabin and appreciated the pride they showed in sharing that with her and Norm. In one of Mark’s first jobs, working at a pizza shop, Mom would go in her pajamas to pick him up late at night. She and Dad enjoyed the left-over pizza he would bring home to share. When Mark found his love Bev, she was proud to host their wedding in the basement of their home and support the love they shared. Both her sons joined the Armed Forces after high school. As a mother, she felt great pride in their service, but was also very scared at the same time. When Dana would be babysitting next door, Mom and Dad would often have popcorn at night. To make sure Dana did not feel left out, Mom would bring her over a bowl of her own. When Norm was looking to upgrade one of his cars, he offered to give Dana his old yellow Celica. She was thrilled but Mom said that she wanted Dana to learn the importance of money and self-pride and asked that she earn it by making payments. Mom knew that if she paid for it herself, she would appreciate it more. When Mom first met John, Dana’s future husband, she was confident he would provide and care for Dana but also knew he would have his hands full with her girl. Growing up, Dana was closer with her dad, with her mom lovingly supporting their relationship in the background. As Dana married and became a mother herself, she quickly realized the special connection her own mother had been building all along. They became best friends and that was probably Mom’s plan the whole time. Daily catch-up phone calls were the standard, and something the two of them still did today. 

 As a young mother, Gerri worked for a local flower shop, and at Mr. C’s as a women’s clothing sales associate. She spoke fondly throughout her life of these positions she had early in motherhood. She was a happy wife and would wait in the kitchen for Norm to get home from his shift at Kennecott. When she saw him pulling up, she would head outside and open up the garage door and then walk him inside with dinner waiting. Norm has always enjoyed new cars and owned many different vehicles throughout their marriage. Gerri would share that they didn’t need a new car, but actually treasured them because she knew it made Norm happy, and that is all she cared about. She loved to get dressed up and have a night on the town with her husband and car.

 Gerri was very involved with their class reunions and was always on the planning board. It was sad for her to see fewer and fewer of her loved classmates each year, but she was happy to have a few remaining to catch up with and remember the good old days. She loved telling others about her friendships and how important they were to her.

 Gerri was an avid seamstress and loved to sew. Blankets, hot pads, pillows, clothing, stuffed animals, yo-yo’s, dust rags, little people quilts, and baby doll blankets were all items that she became an expert on. She would spend most of her evenings and nights making her next masterpiece on her couch. She used an expression on her passion for sewing and why she did it so much, “It keeps me outta the bars”. It is safe to say that if you knew Gerri at all, you probably have something that she made for you. She would often make pieces for complete strangers just because. Those who were closest to her have hundreds of items that she put her love into and we will remember her by. 

 Gerri was an excellent cook, her specialties were chip dip, chicken noodle soup, Halloween chili, meat pies, stuffed peppers, apricot leather, canned peaches, and spaghetti. She was a giver of food and providing meals made her happy. If you were sick, having a bad week, had a busy schedule, or just needed some love, she would bring you a meal and did this her whole life. She used a phrase her own mother used, and would often say, “it’s a wealthy man’s dinner”, especially if she was your guest. Many of the family have carried this saying on to our own dinner tables. She was notorious for offering you to take a drink or snack anytime you would visit, and not settle until you took one. She was very persistent in this. 

 She loved to go camping in their trailer and many nights were spent in the Utah mountains and in St. George. She loved taking pictures and made sure to capture the memory of every get together or special moment she saw with her digital camera. She would then get them developed and give us some of her favorites. She had no desire to get a smartphone and preferred her reliable “old lady camera”. 

 Gerri was a perfect model grandmother and truly enjoyed this privileged role in life. She was fortunate to earn this title at a younger age which allowed her to build a long life of memories with her 5 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. She supported her family in every way possible and loved watching and supporting the different activities they participated in. Grandma loved spending time with her grandkids making cookies, sitting on the patio, picking apricots in the backyard, going to the movies, sleepovers, swimming weekends at Jeremy Ranch, and teaching life skills. She was excellent in reminding us of these special memories she had and wanted us to make sure we never forgot them. She was a great storyteller of all of her experiences and made it hard to ever forget what she wanted us to know. 

 Babysitting some of her great-grandchildren was not uncommon as her grandchildren were working and going to school. She knew she could help out and took on this task with an open heart and spoke about it fondly up until her passing. She was always concerned with what each was up to and how things were going. She displayed great pride in seeing her grandchildren work hard and make a happy and successful life for themselves and their families. She wanted to see them experience happiness and that was her main priority. She loved helping out and being around those she loved. In her final months of life, she was still working on and gifting special blankets and pillow cases for her great grandchildren. These are treasures to her family and will help them always remember the giving and loving person she was. 

 Gerri was compassionate and always held a place for those she loved. Birthdays were never forgotten for any of her family. They included personalized cards in the mail with money, and a singing “happy birthday” phone call from her and Norm always taking place on your special day. Holidays, anniversaries, graduations, thank you’s, get well, and just because, notes and cards were also common things from her. She frequently would call us at home anytime we would leave her house or a get-together. She always was concerned to make sure we got home safely and wanted to thank us for the time spent together. That was the type of caring woman she was. She had a powerful relationship and love with her Heavenly Father and strived to live each day to the best of her ability. 

 Gerri was a peacemaker and did not like confrontation or hearing others speak badly about others. She often would say “never mind that” or “let’s not worry about that now”. She did not speak down on people and always looked for the best in others. She was a simple woman who sincerely felt content with all she had. She found beauty, joy, and love, in every aspect of life. She took great pride in caring for Norm, her family, neighbors, friends, landscapers, contractors, salesmen, mail couriers, delivery drivers, nature, her garden, and her flowers. She was a rock collector and was always paying attention to them and finding the beauty in all. She was even known for taking a few from her family's yards, parks, schools, parking lots, and in nature to display at her home. She saw beauty in places others may not always look, and wanted to take some of this beauty with her to cherish every day. Her favorite colors were purple and turquoise and she enjoyed wearing these colors and decorating with them in her home. She loved all flowers but especially the roses in her yard that her and Norm cared for. Hens and chicks plants can be found all over their yard and in many of her family's yards that she gave to them over the years. She loved talking about the items in her yard and loved her house dearly. 

 Gerri and Norm faced the loss of their son; Kirk, and daughter-in-law; Bev, later in life, and always hurt from those losses. She would often say “no parent should ever have to go through that”. She was very sincere and made everyone she met feel special. She was always happy to see you and if you had just met her for the first time, you would not forget her. She had a strong memory and later in life you could see what was most important to her as she made sure you knew about it each time you visited with her. In her last few months, as her body and mind were slowing down, she showed concern that she would not be able to be there for Daddy like she should be. This was her priority in life and she was very fortunate to have the help of her daughter; Dana, and son-in-law; John, to help her out with their needs. There was also assistance provided by daughter-in-law; Maryann, and grandchildren. The last 6 months provided Dana and John the opportunity to give back a small piece of the love and care to Mom that she had always shown to them. It brought them even closer than they thought was possible. Staff at Inspiration Hospice also helped burden the load. She loved her time with Heather and shared how helpful, loving, and beautiful of a person she was. The family would like to share our appreciation and love to the caregivers for treating her like their own. 

Geraldeen is survived by her husband, Norman; their son, Mark; daughter, Dana Fabert (John Fabert); daughter-in-law, MaryAnn Doman; grandchildren, Jason Fabert (Megan), Kyle Doman (Hilary), Karri Doman, Brooke Benson (Ryan), Mandi Dixon (Brian); and 11 great-grandchildren.

Preceded in death by her parents, Carrie and Ray Gammell; siblings, Blake Gammell, Erma June Welling, Lola Jean Richards; son, Kirk Doman; daughter- in-law, Beverly Doman.

Viewing services will be held on August 7th, 2024 from 10:00-11:00 AM at Goff Mortuary (8090 State Street, Midvale, UT. 84047). A private family graveside service will follow, honoring Gerri in the presence of close family.