We are happy to announce that Doris Paul (Milliea) has
started her Spirit Journey. Doris, originally from
Elsipogtog (formerly known as Big Cove) was a resident/member of Saint
Mary’s First Nations since the mid 80’s.
She was born in Mars Hill Maine on July 25, 1944. She crossed over
into the Spirit World on May 17, 2022. She was the daughter
of the late Noel & Mona (Levi) Milliea.
Doris leaves behind her children; Eric Tomah (Shirley), Robin
Tomah (Dan), Maryann Tomah, Johnny Francis (Tanya) and Stephanie
Francis as well as her stepsons Lorne Francis and Paul Stephen
Francis. She was predeceased by her son Eli(Julia), and her
stepchildren Vernon, Audrey and Lorinda. She raised so many other
children, but the special ones were Robbie Tomah and Tyrone
Peters. Her son Eli had crossed over 16 years prior, to make
her forever home as nice as possible. It was mentioned that
he recently came to visit a sister in a dream, where he showed her
that he completed the second cabin along the lake. It was
time for Gram to come home.
Doris was known as Mom, Gram, Auntie or Sogii. She
was predeceased by two husbands ( Aloysius Tomah of Houlton/Pilick and
Eric Paul of Sitansisk) and a baby daddy (Stephen L.Francis of
Elsipogtog). She also had to send off her beloved brothers,
“Uncle Joe” and “Uncle Levi”, and her “ride
or die”, her eldest sister, Theresa Peters. We can only
imagine the family reunion she went home to, where we know they will
be playing Bingo, Hold’em and having some Coors
Light.
Gram lived an amazing life. She survived Indian Day
School and the Girls Catholic Boarding School in New Castle.
She then migrated to Houlton, Maine and then Connecticut.
She made her way back, to what was then called Big Cove, for a good 10
years, until she moved to Wolastoqiyik Territory; where she lived in
the downtown area of Fredericton for many years. This proved
to be handy for many relations, a this was a pitstop on route to pick
blueberries or potatoes in the States. She welcomed so many
visitors into her home, despite already having a houseful.
She never turned anyone away, ever.
She had an “open door policy”. We asked why she was
always taking people in, she said “well, you never know, maybe
one day my sons will be out there and I pray that another mother takes
them in too”. This goes to show that she worried about
her sons, and had full confidence that her daughters would be
fine.
From her days in Elsipogtog, Doris loved gardening, cooking,
playing bingo and catching the Saturday morning yard sales.
Her grandkids remember her by her jokes, stories and her long dramatic
pauses. She was revered by all of her grandkids and her
great grandchildren. She taught them all some major life
lessons while sitting at the kitchen table(her pulpit) playing
cards.
Doris was a firm believer in being of service, giving back,
and “sharing the wealth”. Every time she won at
bingo she was sure to head out the next day and buy much needed stuff
for an unexpecting person, usually a new mom with a brand new
baby. We would ask why she did that. She would
smile and say, “so I will keep winning at bingo”.
Looking back, we knew it was much more than that. She was
the epitome of charity and generosity. She promoted
volunteerism to her family, and would sometimes “volun-tell”
us to participate in various activities.
You can only imagine her delight when a few of her
grandchildren were a part of the community’s youth group,
SMYLE (St.Marys Youth Leadership Enrichment). Gram was their
“behind the scenes” player of the group, kind of an Advisor
of sorts. She even set up a meeting with two of the youngest
members one time, Zoe and Cheryl, to make a formal request for SMYLE
to partner up with the staff of Retail Sales to help sponsor a family
for Christmas. She was so proud of these
youth.
For many years, Doris was a stay at home mom when she
wasn’t taking courses at St.Thomas University.
Later in life when she became a single mom again, she returned to the
workforce and joined the team at Retail Sales. It was here
that she created her “work family”. Everyday she
would come home and share stories of the girls. We were
relieved that her work fam loved her humor because she was full of
jokes. She only retired in November 2021. Since
then, so many people say they miss seeing her face when they walked in
the office or hearing her voice when she answered the
phone.
Gram’s final preparations were completed at
Bishop’s Funeral Home. She was then prepared with love by
her sister, niece, daughter in law, daughter and
granddaughters. While her grandson and great grandson stood
outside to hold space. Doris continues to share teachings
and wisdom with her family and others even in spirit. She
knew how this final send off would be a learning experience for her
family in decolonizing grief and loss. She knew it would be
a celebration of life. Her gift to the world are her amazing
grandchildren and great grandchildren, who will continue with these
traditions in years to come.
If you have read this far, Gram will be waked at the
Maqiyahtimok Centre at 247 Maliseet Drive, St,Mary’s First
Nation, Fredericton NB. Her final send off ceremony will be
here on Friday, May 20th, 2022 at
11am. In lieu of flowers, people are welcomed to make a
contribution to the Cancer Society. Seeing that she kicked
cancers butt a few times, this is her way of giving back
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Doris Paul 1944 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Fredericton, Province: Nouveau-Brunswick