Kalas Funeral Home & Crematory

Doris Charlotte McCullough
December 14, 1923 – December 3, 2021

Doris Charlotte McCullough passed away peacefully on December 3, 2021, just a few days before her 98th birthday and 70th wedding anniversary. Born on December 14, 1923, in Rockford, Illinois, she was the oldest of three children born to Victor M. Sandberg and Effie Amanda Borg Sandberg. Doris grew up in a Swedish family and loved all the Swedish traditions shared by her large extended family in Minnesota.

Following graduation from high school, Doris worked for a short time in Minneapolis before moving to San Diego, California. After briefly returning to Minnesota, where her Auntie Helga taught her to drive on the streets of Minneapolis, she felt the call of sunny California and moved to San Jose, where she worked at the Naval Air Station in Alameda. It was there that she met the love of her life, Carlos McCullough, a naval aviator and a graduate of the United States Naval Academy Class of 1949.  

Together as a Navy family, Doris and Carlos traveled the world with their only child, Carleen. Doris especially enjoyed the time spent living in England and in Norway and the opportunity to visit Oland, her family’s home in Sweden. After living in Europe for several years, the family settled in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she worked for the Virginia Beach public school system for almost twenty years.  Doris and Carlos continued to travel, and the family always enjoyed the stories from their adventures around the world.

Doris was a gifted artist and writer; her creative spirit and wonderful sense of humor touched all who knew her. She was an avid reader, baseball fan, generous friend, and perfect mother. She made the best cookies….Swedish, of course….She was loved as Grandma Doris by her granddaughter, Mary Charlotte Doherty Jones, and grandson Sean Patrick Doherty.  She loved being Great Grandma Doris to Charlie, Teddy, Jamie, and Rory.

A recent resident of Annapolis, Doris is survived by her husband of almost 70 years, Carlos d’Arcy McCullough, her sister Marjorie Davis of Ukiah, CA, daughter Carleen Charlotte Doherty (John) of Annapolis, MD, granddaughter Mary Charlotte Jones (Brent) of Villanova, PA, grandson Sean Patrick Doherty (Katia) of San Francisco, CA, great-grandchildren Charles Stephen Jones, Theodore d’Arcy Jones, James Thomas Doherty, and Rory Patrick Doherty, and many other family members and friends whom Doris loved. Hers was a life well-lived.  Tusen Takk!

Please leave a condolence for the family by signing the guestbook at the Memories tab on this page.

Doris Charlotte McCullough

Doris Charlotte McCullough

Doris McCullough Services

No public services planned at this time