ANCESTOR A: REID ELSTER DOSS (1923-1989)

 This is the first in a new series of essays on the Doss family. To avoid confusion between Curtis’ family and mine, his ancestors will be indicated by a letter instead of a number. This biography was co-written; I found the historical documents, and Curtis supplied the memories and old photos.

It seems hard to believe that someone we knew so well and who was a central figure in the first half of our lives was born over a hundred years ago, but Reid Elster Doss was born in rural Grady County, Oklahoma, on August 26, 1923.[1] He was the fifth child of Roy Doss and Jewell Stephens, who lived near Cement, Oklahoma. Ernestine Ellen, Grover Sampson, Herbert Laverne, and Reginald Lowell were older; the youngest was Daniel Riley Doss.[2]

Reid was born into a family of farmers and cattlemen who owned property in an area about ten miles southwest of Chickasha where road E1450 now crosses the Bailey Turnpike (US 44).

Reid attended nearby Fairview school throughout his childhood and high school grades.[3]

The lifelong connections and friendships he made during his years there were so valuable to him that he often arranged his vacation times and traveled long distances to be in Chickasha to renew those relationships during the annual Fairview school reunion.

Of the many stories that Reid told of his childhood, one that stood out was how his hair changed. Most of his life he had curly hair. However, in childhood, he had straight hair, as shown in the two photos below of him when he was about twelve years old. In the first, he and his little brother Dan were arguing over who would get to hold the gun for the photo; Dan ended up holding the rifle, and Reid is hanging his head, clearly showing his straight hair. In the second photo, friends again, he and Dan are riding their horse Flyaway; Reid’s hair is straight. He often said it changed after a long illness with fever that required him to stay home for an extended period, miss school, and he had to watch the other kids out playing while he was in the house.

 

 

On December 10, 1942, Reid and his cousin Earl went to Oklahoma City and enlisted in the Army.[4] This was about a year after the start of World War II. Many teenage boys dropped out of school to enlist but as Reid’s army discharge record confirms, he graduated from high school.  All his brothers except Grover, who worked in the oil fields in Texas and had a wife and children, enlisted in the military during World War II.

His draft card that summer says he stood 6 feet 1 inches, weighed 167 pounds, had hazel eyes and brown hair.[5] After training in the U. S., he was sent to England in October 1943. His discharge record at the end of 1945 says he ended the war as a staff sergeant; weighed 197 pounds; his civilian occupation was truck driver; and his military occupation was glider mechanic. He was assigned to Squadron C of the 1045^th Army Air Force Base Unit (the Air Force as a separate military branch had not formed yet). Reid participated in the following seven campaigns:

1944:

Southern France

Normandy

Rome-Arno

1945:

Northern France

Ardennes

Rhineland

Central Europe

Decorations and Citations:

European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon w/7 Br Star for above Campaigns

Victory Medal

Good Conduct Medal

Distinguished Unit Citation CO212 44

His involvement at Normandy was to glide over the area the day before the invasion, dropping men in place. Gliders were silent because they had no engines. It was a very hazardous mission. Here he is next to his plane, whose name has been cropped, but you can see the drawing of an outhouse and a Sears Roebuck catalog for toilet paper. At the end of 1945, he re-enlisted and was stationed in San Antonio, Texas.[6]

 

 

 

                                                       

                                                                            

Reid Doss in his brother Grover’s local newspaper

On April 5, 1946, Reid and Elamaye Jobe, accompanied by one of Reid’s army friends and his fiancée, drove to Columbus, Kansas to get married.[8] Maye told me that they went to Kansas because Reid only had a three-day pass and it was quicker to marry in Kansas because that state required a shorter waiting period than Oklahoma. At that time, many states required couples to wait for the results of blood tests to ensure neither person had a serious disease. Maye said none of their relatives were present when they married. Reid and Maye had both grown up in the Chickasha area and had known each other for years. Here they are on their honeymoon.

 

                                  

Like millions of veterans of WWII, Reid used the GI Bill to attend college. He studied at Central State College in Edmond, Oklahoma, in 1950, although he was now a father of two children.[9]

He was an education major and, while still a student, accepted a teaching position at Pioneer, near Chickasha, for the 1951-1952 school year.[10] Besides teaching, he coached basketball. In the 1953-1954 school year, he was promoted to high school principal and coach at Ninnekah.[11] In July of 1954, he was one of sixty-one graduates from Central State College with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree. The college graduated a total of eighty students that semester.[12] The school year following graduation, he became the high school principal at Cement.[13] He also was the school bus driver and coach.[14]

Reid was a community leader in Cement and belonged to many organizations: the Lions Club, the Ground Observer Corps (civil defense supervisor), 4-H, and the local Baptist church.[15] After a year in Cement, Reid took a position as superintendent at Friend High School for the 1956-1957 school year.[16] He was just as busy in Friend as he had been in Cement. He and his sister Ernestine Townley were founding officers the year that the Grady County Mental Health Association was formed.[17] Reid was elected president of the Grady County OCEA, an organization of high school superintendents.[18] He also was chairman of the heart fund drive in Friend in 1958.[19] He continued to study; he graduated with a master’s degree in education from the University of Oklahoma in June 1957.[20] At Friend, he taught history and math.

Unexpectedly, Reid’s father Roy died of a heart attack on February 8, 1958.[21] Reid had been considering moving the family to California, where salaries were higher, but of Roy and Jewell’s six children, only he and his sister Ernistine lived near their mother, so he stayed at Friend for another school year. In the summer of 1959, he and the family moved to Santa Rosa, California, a town where Maye’s older brother, Leo, lived. This move was a huge change for Reid and his family. In Oklahoma, he was named in local newspapers hundreds of times, usually at least once a week, and often in relation to coaching, but for the next twenty years he lived in California, he only appeared in the newspaper a handful of times.

                               

Reid and Maye bought a house at 200 California Avenue. Reid got a position teaching social studies at the new Cook Junior High School in Santa Rosa. The school was so new, they had to share space at Herbert Slater Junior High until October. [22] His salary as a teacher was more than he earned as superintendent in Friend. Beside teaching, he coached baseball and other sports.[23] In 1962, Reid was offered a contract at Cook, and he taught math as well as social studies.[24]  A few years after moving to Santa Rosa, Reid’s younger brother Dan and family moved to Santa Rosa and started teaching at Cook Jr. High as well.

In 1968, Reid and the family moved to a ten-acre property at 2210 Blucher Valley Road west of Sebastopol, where they could have farm animals, a large garden, and a quiet country life.  In the summer of 1973, Reid and Maye attended an education conference in Amsterdam, and then visited England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Austria, Yugoslavia and Greece, where their eldest daughter was living.[25]

Reid continued teaching at Cook until the end of 1977, when he needed to retire after a major heart attack. Luckily, the heart attack occurred while he was visiting his daughter and new grandson in the hospital in Oklahoma City. He had open heart surgery immediately and remained in Oklahoma for several months for rehabilitation.

After returning to California in the spring of 1978, he and Maye decided to sell their property in Blucher Valley, and in 1979 they moved to 108 Sabine Circle on Lowes Creek, Toledo Bend Lake, near Hemphill, Texas. Reid’s older brother Grover had retired there before his passing, and his brother Herb now lived there. During Reid’s time there he enjoyed fishing with Herb at the lake and hosting many friends and relatives who would come by to visit. Maye and Reid built a log cabin, shown in the advertisement below.

While in Hemphill, he started several successful businesses: two elderly home-care businesses (Sunshine Inn), one in Crockett and one in Hemphill; a vinyl-siding business in Hemphill, and a snack shop selling sodas, ice cream, and sandwiches across the street from the Hemphill high school.

However, after just a few years in Hemphill they were ready to move again. This time it was to Winter Haven, Florida, near where their eldest daughter lived. They bought a large white house with a swimming pool. Reid worked part time at an amusement park called Boardwalk and Baseball, and he helped Maye and his daughter with their business cleaning offices in the evenings.

On July 15, 1988, Reid died after a long struggle from the results of heart disease.[26] He was laid to rest in the Oklahoma hills where he was born, in Fairlawn Cemetery on Hwy. 81, north of Chickasha. All his family, many friends, and long-time acquaintances from Chickasha and Fairview school attended his funeral. He was loved and is still missed by those who knew him, more than 100 years after his birth.

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[1] Oklahoma State Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Grady County, birth certificate no. 5067 (1923), 26 Aug. 1923, Reid E. Doss.[1] See blog post from Aug. 23, 2024, discussing conflicts in records concerning his name and birthdate.

[2] 1930 United States Federal Census, Grady County, Oklahoma, population schedule, Chandler Township, ED 26-5, p. 4A (penned), sheet 45 (stamped), dwelling 65, family 66, Reid E. Doss in household of Roy S. Doss; “Oklahoma, Oklahoma, United States records,” database and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9R4Z-WYC?view=explore : accessed Dec 27, 2025) > IGN 4950070 > image 95 of 1013; from NARA. Middle names are from other records not cited here. Riley and Sampson were names used in prior generations.

[3] “Fairview School was one of the twenty-four schools that were founded in Caddo County and added to Grady County in 1911 when the western boundary of Grady County was expanded. Fairview was eight miles south and five miles west of Chickasha. In 1923, Fairview was accredited with two years of high school. In the 1930's, high school students were transferred from Kechi, Little Rush, Agawam, and Acme to Fairview. C.B. Dunnell was the school administrator for nearly 50 years.” Grady County Historical Society, “History of Fairview school in Grady County,” Facebook post, 21 Nov. 2024; Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gradycomuseum/posts/fairview-school-was-one-of-the-twenty-four-schools-that-were-founded-in-caddo-co/1136119921848549/: accessed 12 Sep. 2026).

[4] “Six Caddo Men in Army Volunteer Group,” Anadarko Daily News (Anadarko, Ok.), 14 Dec. 1942, p. 2, col. 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/872983857/: accessed 11 Jan. 2026). Doss, Reid E., Enlisted Record and Report of Separation Honorable Discharge, Army Serial No. 18 194 492. World War II (discharged 20 Dec. 1945); privately held by the author.

[5] Draft card for Reid Elster Doss, front, serial no. N318, Local Draft Board No. 3, Grady County, Oklahoma; citing NARA record group 147, Box 134 (St. Louis, Mo.: National Archives and Records Administration); “U. S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 30 Dec. 2025) > Oklahoma > Dooley-Douglas > Dooley, Lonnie-Douglas, Christopher > image 1141-1142 of 2117.

[6] Ibid, Doss, Reid E., Enlisted Record.

[7] “Pfc Frank Lezak Says Sicily Invasion is Hell,” The Sealy News (Sealy, Tx.), 27 Aug. 1943, p. 7, col. 6; image, The Portal to Texas History (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1601762/m1/7/?q=%22Reid+Doss%22: accessed 16 Aug. 2026).

[8] Cherokee County, Kansas, Marriage Record, 35:333, 5 April 1946, Reid E. Doss and Elamaye Jobe; certified copy, district court, 7 Aug. 1989; private collection.

[9] 1950 United States Federal Census, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Edmond, ED 55-64, p. 40, dwelling 346, 622 E. Main St., Reid E. Doss; “1950 United States Federal Census,” database and images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/62308/: accessed 18 Jan. 2026) > image 41 of 52.

[10] “Grady Trio Accepts Teaching Positions,” The Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Ok.), 14 June 1951, p. 2, col. 4; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/715569372/: accessed 19 Jan. 2026).

[11] “Veteran Administrator Heads Ninnekah Faculty For ’53-54,” The Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Ok.), 29 July 1953, p. 2, col. 1; images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/ 715890481/: accessed 24 Jan. 2026).

[12] “Alumni Breakfast, Commencement Planned For CSC Summer Graduates,” The Edmond Enterprise (Edmond, Ok.), 13 Jul. 1954, p. 1, col. 1-2; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/594661598/: accessed 28 Jan. 2026).

[13] “Cement: Doss Named as Principal,” The Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Ok.), 2 July 1954, p. 11, col. 4; images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/715897470/: accessed 26 Jan. 2026).

[14] “Cement Schools to Open Monday,” The Lawton Constitution and Morning Press (Lawton, Ok.), 28 Aug. 1955, p. 3, col. 7; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/902155717/: accessed 14 Feb. 2026). “Grady Sports Dust …,” The Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Ok.), 6 Feb. 1956, p. 7, col. 5; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/716035401/: accessed 14 Feb. 2026).

[15] “Cement Lions Elect Officers,” The Lawton News-Review (Lawton, Ok.), 19 May 1955, p. 6, col. 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/ 904706834/: accessed 12 Feb. 2026). “County Forms Observer Unit,” Anadarko Daily News (Anadarko, Ok.), 3 Nov. 1955, p. 1, col. 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/871990361/: accessed 1 Feb. 2026). “Baptist Young People Meet in Reid Doss Home,” Anadarko Daily News (Anadarko, Ok.), 2 Nov. 1955, p. 3, col. 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/871990353/: accessed 10 Feb. 2026).

[16] “Cement News: Reid Doss Resigns as Ball Coach,” The Anadarko Daily News (Anadarko, Ok.), 9 July 1956, p. 3, col. 7; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/872000884/: accessed 21 Feb. 2026).

[17] “Pastor Heads Area Mental Health Unit,” The Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Ok.), 12 May 1957, p. 10, col. 8; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/ 591933567/: accessed 28 Feb. 2026).

[18] “News of Grady County,” The Chickasha Star (Chickasha, Ok.), 26 Sep. 1957, p. 2, col. 2; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/715932240/: accessed 9 Mar. 2026).

[19] “Heart Fund to Top Quota,” The Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Ok.), 22 Apr. 1958, p. 1, col. 1; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/590113734/: accessed 2 Aug. 2026).

[20] “Area Group Gains Degrees at University,” The Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Ok.), 10 June 1957, p. 3, col. 5; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/591937281/: accessed 4 Mar. 2026).

[21] “Rites Pending For Roy Doss,” The Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Ok.), 9 Feb. 1958, p. 2, col. 7; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/590103597/: accessed 1 Aug. 2026).

[22] “Cook JH Classes at Slater JH Until School Ready in October,” The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Ca.), 30 Aug. 1959, p. 36, col. 1-4; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/281622683/: accessed 5 Aug. 2026).

[23] “Cook’s New Gym Hurried for Cage,” The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Ca.), 24 Nov. 1959, p. 9, col. 3-4; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/282181466/: accessed 5 Aug. 2026).

[24] “98 Probationary Teachers Get Contract Offers,” The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Ca.), 25 Apr. 1962, p. 34, col. 1; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/282716709/: accessed 6 Aug. 2026).

[25] “Bib ‘N’ Tucker: Tidbits,” The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Ca.), 29 Jul. 1973, p. 18, col. 4; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/295206746/: accessed 8 Aug. 2026).

[26] “Reid Doss, 65,” The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), 17 Jul. 1989, p. 13, col. 1; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1274089898/: accessed 9 Aug 2026).