Doris Pearl Butterfield was born July 20, 1929, in Floyd, Iowa, the youngest of 7 children. When she was 12 her family moved to Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Huntington Park High School and from Cypress Community College in California. She attended California State University-Long Beach and Fullerton. Doris married Ernie Medialdea August 26, 1950, in Raton, New Mexico. They had two sons, Michael (wife Ann and daughters Rachael and Melissa) and Kenneth. She was a gifted medical transcriptionist and enjoyed painting and designing encouragement cards.