Timothy M. Doerr, 81, Consummate Family Man, Business Owner, Athlete
“‘Til Gabriel blows his horn.”
Timothy Michael Doerr, of Naples, Florida, passed away peacefully at his home on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. We joyfully celebrate the blessing of his 81 years of life.
Tim was born on January 6, 1943, in Cleburne, Texas, to Catherine Marie Higgins and Clement Michael Doerr. The oldest of five brothers, Tim embraced each day with a loving heart, an intuitive mind, a beaming smile as big as the State of Texas, an unmatched toughness, and a giant handshake full of purpose, grit, and integrity. A natural-born leader, and always quick with a joke, Tim had an outgoing and high-spirited personality, a hearty and contagious laugh, and was a consummate winner on and off the field.
Known affectionately as “Timmy” throughout his childhood, he learned the art of counting dominoes at the age of five from his grandfather, proudly purchased a car before he had a license, lifted feed sacks out on the Doerr family farm as a form of exercise, fervently fished for large mouthed bass, and championed a work ethic and commitment to family that stemmed from his father’s livelihood as an engineer on the Santa Fe Railroad.
Dedicated to excellence, Timmy was President of the National Honor Society, Mr. Cleburne High School, and a four-year letterman as a baseball catcher that batted third in the lineup. But the gridiron is where Timmy shined. During his junior year, as the quarterback and an inside linebacker, the Cleburne Yellowjackets won the 1959 Texas State Championship. As a senior, Timmy was a captain and received All-State and All-American honors.
Timmy’s academic and athletic accomplishments continued while at the University of Texas at Austin. As a Math major, Timmy understood the X’s and O’s of football better than most — and complemented that innate perception for the game with an unparalleled level of aggressiveness, speed, and fortitude. This rare combination of elite football IQ, mixed with superior physical and athletic talents, qualified Timmy to be the designated “wildcard” player for the Longhorns who could be freely substituted on both offense and defense without limitation (the legacy rules of collegiate football in the early 1960s limited player substitutions). There are very few pictures of Timmy in a Longhorn uniform that don’t feature some form of a bruised or black eye — and as aptly depicted in the The Austin Statesman in September of 1963, “Doerr always appears to have just come out of a battle with a wildcat. But [Coach] Royal will tell you, it is the other side that got clawed and pummeled. Not Timmy.”
As a punishing linebacker and three-year letterman at the University of Texas at Austin, the Longhorns amassed a collective record of 30-2-1 and won the Southwest Conference Championship in 1962 and 1963, the Cotton Bowl against Navy in January 1964, the Orange Bowl against Alabama in January 1965, and the National Championship for the 1963 season. As a senior, Timmy was a co-captain, the recipient of The D. Harold Byrd Leadership Award, and an Academic All-American.
After brief stints as a math teacher, assistant and head football coach, and athletic director at the high school level, Tim returned to Austin as a defensive coach for the Longhorns and left an indelible mark on the players he recruited and coached — winning the Southwest Conference Championship (1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1975) and the National Championship in 1969 and 1970.
Tim and Sally’s love story began in Austin at the University and they were married on July 4, 1970. After retiring from coaching, Tim and Sally moved to Westfield, New Jersey, in 1977 and joined the family business, Master Memorials, Inc. As a business owner and member of the American Institute of Commemorative Art, Tim perfected his artistic craft by designing monuments, markers, and mausoleums — helping others create lasting memories that pay tribute to their loved ones. Additionally, Tim was a member of the Rotary Club of Westfield, serving as the Club President in 1987-1988, and a recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow award.
Tim and Sally were the ultimate partners. In business, and in life, they were devoted to each other and a real team in every sense. With over 54 years of marriage, Tim shared everything with Sally, was always by her side, and his greatest joy was in raising, coaching, supporting, and loving their three children.
As a son, brother, spouse, father, uncle, grandfather, coach, mentor, friend and teammate, Tim was larger-than-life and left a lasting impression. Always sporting his cowboy boots, he fostered a winning environment, took dead aim on the golf course, grilled a mean rib-eye, flashed the hook ‘em horns with pride, turned up the volume on the country music station, brought his Lone Star coaching whistle to the youth of the Blue Devil faithful, never met a stranger who wasn’t a friend, outmaneuvered his target when casting his lure into the Jersey ocean and Texas lakes, told the most long-winded and entertaining stories, and unconditionally loved his family.
Tim is survived by his beloved wife, Sally; his son Michael (Megan); his son Brandon (Kristen); his daughter Peggy (Jack); his brother Fred (Elva); his brother Bob (Sharon); his six grandchildren, June, Grady, Brooks, Georgia, Blair and Gwyneth; his cousin, Louis Jr., and a large extended family that includes countless nephews and nieces who he adored and cherished as his own. He was predeceased by his parents; his brothers Jim (Bucky) and David; his Uncles Anton and Hugh (Ruby), and his cousin John Anthony (Betty).
Visitation will be on Friday, September 27, 2024, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Gray Funeral Home, 318 East Broad Street, Westfield, N.J. A memorial service celebration and entombment in the family’s private mausoleum will be held on Saturday morning, September 28, 2024, at 11 a.m., at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, N.J., for family and friends.
Please go to www.grayfuneralhomes.com to offer condolences.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org).
September 26, 2024
