Doris Ryer Nixon

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Doris Ryer Nixon

Born 1893
San Francisco, CA
Died June 24, 1948 (aged 54–55)
San Francisco, CA
Nationality United States
Occupation Civic Leader
Spouse Stanhope Wood Nixon (1917-1945)

Doris Ryer Nixon (1893-1948) was a civic leader, particularly on the home front during World War II. The granddaughter of one of California's first doctors, and daughter-in-law of a legendary shipbuilder and industrialist, she became a national vice-president of the American Women's Volunteer Services ("AWVS") during the war. Her son, Lewis Nixon, was then serving as an officer in the 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment, part of it with Easy Company. His service with Easy Company would bring him fame after his 1995 death, when the Company became the subject of the acclaimed 2001 television mini-series "Band of Brothers" based on the Stephen Ambrose book.


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[edit] California upbringing

Doris Nixon's grandfather, Dr. Washington Ryer, was a New York doctor who settled in Stockton, California in the 1840's after serving as an assistant surgeon in General Winfield Scott's campaign in the Mexican-American War.[1]. He married Mary Fletcher of Boston in 1862, and they had one son - Fletcher Ryer.[1] Ryer Island in in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is named in their honor.[1]. Fletcher Ryer and his wife, Blanche, became wealthy pioneer agriculturalists.[2] In 1906 (the year of the San Francisco Earthquake and fire) it was reported that their daughter Doris was placed in a school in Paris, France.[3]

[edit] Debutante

Fletcher Ryer died in 1911, before reaching age fifty. As Doris reached her early twenties, Blanche Ryer and her daughter Doris became increasingly involved in the social scenes on the east coast, taking Benjamin Thaw's "cottage" in Newport, Rhode Island, for the summer of 1915.[4] Doris was formally presented as a debutante in Newport that year.[4] As the Oakland Tribune would write, "Mrs. Ryer has had her eye on several members of the British aristocracy for Doris, but this cruel war, of course, smashed all of her well-laid plans to smithereens."[4] (Doris's mother would later marry Clifford Erskine-Bolst, a British Conservative Party politician (who was elected to the British House of Commons in 1923 and again in 1931).) [5]

[edit] Marriage and family

Doris married Stanhope Nixon in 1917 in New York.[6] Stanhope Nixon was the son of Lewis Nixon, a renowned naval architect who briefly led Tammany Hall, and who was the namesake of Nixon Nitration Works and its home village of Nixon, New Jersey. Stanhope Nixon had become a subject of controversy several years before their marriage, after he was arrested for assaulting and seriously injuring a phone company engineer in New Haven following a wine party (an offense for which he was fined but not jailed).[7] Doris and Stanhope were joined the following year by a son, Lewis, and in 1923 by a daughter, Blanche. However, Doris and Stanhope were often apart, with Stanhope tending to the family business in New Jersey and Doris deeply involved in community activities in California. They were divorced in 1945.[2]

[edit] Civic leadership

Doris was the founder and president of Guide Dogs for the Blind, Inc., state commander of the California Cancer Society, and national vice-president of the AWVS during World War II.[2] The AWVS was a key organization for coordinating volunteer activities in support of the war effort. She had founded the California chapter, and had served as its first president.[8] She also served as a member of the World Affairs Council and numerous organizations devoted to peace.[2]

[edit] Death

Doris died in her home in San Francisco on June 24, 1948, at age fifty-five.[2] She left an estate valued at approximately $750,000, which included a half interest in a 6,600-acre ranch on Ryer Island. [9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "Friends of Mountain View Cemetery," Spring 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Funeral Held for Civic Leader," Oakland Tribune, 1948-06-25.
  3. ^ "Gossip from the San Francisco Weeklies," Oakland Tribune, 1906-06-24.
  4. ^ a b c "Miss Ryer's Debut is Made at Newport," Oakland Tribune, 1915-08-08; "Newport," The Washington Post, 1915-07-05, at p.7.
  5. ^ ”Rehearing is denied in suit over contract,” Oakland Tribune, 1924-06-09, at 4.
  6. ^ "Gov. Whitman her sponsor: Miss Doris F. Ryer Weds S. W. Nixon in Heavenly Rest," The New York Times, 1917-01-24.
  7. ^ "Nixon Let Off With Fine: Victim Now Will Sue Former Yale Student for Damages, It Is Said," The New York Times, 1914-05-05.
  8. ^ Alice Ryan Winn, "Women Training in Defense Work Declared to be Vital to Nation," Oakland Tribune, 1941-11-11, at pp. 19.
  9. ^ ”Estate of $750,000 is Left to Children by Mrs. Doris R. Nixon,”The Fresno Bee Republican, 1948-06-29 at 2.