Hilary Kay Doran, 58

Hilary Kay Doran, 58, of Kalispell, died at Heritage Place on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, after a brief illness.

She was born June 14, 1958, at Kalispell General Hospital to Irene and Howard Doran.

Hilary spent her early childhood playing creek-side and riding her bicycle at Doran’s Campground, the family property on Helena Flats Road. After the family moved into town, she attended St. Matthew’s Catholic School and local junior high and high schools. Throughout her teens, Hilary rode horses at Bailey’s Stables and competed in horse shows around the state. She graduated from Flathead High School in 1976.

Hilary earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She attended the University of Saint Mary, in Leavenworth, Kansas, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in art and English with a minor in biology, graduating in 1981. For graduate studies, she went abroad to the University of York, pursuing a Master of Arts in women’s studies. She graduated from York in 1999, with distinction.

Hilary’s lifelong interests in women’s issues, social justice and travel took her first to Guatemala, where she volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and, later, for three years, with the Guatemala Women’s Weaving Project in Santo Tomás La Unión, a mission of the Catholic Diocese in Helena. Between the two, she interned for Sojourners, a peace and social justice ministry in Washington, D.C. Later she would travel to Portugal, Morocco and Turkey. She would also return many times to the United Kingdom to visit friends and continue in her role as graphic designer and co-director of Raw Nerve Books, at the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of York.

For more than a decade, Hilary resided in Maryland and worked as creative and production manager for Bread for the World, a D.C.-based nonprofit organization working to end hunger worldwide. Her publication designs received many awards, including a 2006 Award of Excellence in the DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards Competition, sponsored by the Religion Communicators Council.

But she missed the West and eventually moved back, to Portland, Oregon; the following year she returned to the Valley to take a position with Citizens for a Better Flathead. Most recently she worked at Jackola Engineering and Architecture in Kalispell. She attended Northridge Lutheran Church and relished spending time with friends, hitting the elliptical at the gym, and caring for her cat, Olivia. She was much loved for her irreverence, sly wit, sense of adventure, and commitment to equality—social, racial and gender equality.

Hilary was preceded in death by her parents, Howard and Irene Doran.

Survivors include her sister, Geri Doran, of Eugene, Oregon; her aunt, Alma Foot, of Kalispell; and many cousins and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Bread for the World in Washington, D.C. at www.bread.org, or to Young Adults in Global Mission (a project of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America). Donations to YAGM in Hilary’s honor will help sponsor Jasmine Allen, a Libby resident and Northridge Lutheran Church member, in a year’s mission work. Checks may be sent to Northridge Lutheran Church, 323 Northridge Drive, Kalispell, MT 59901 (please note ”in memory of Hilary Doran” or Jasmine’s name).

A memorial service will be held at noon on Monday, June 12, at Northridge Lutheran Church in Kalispell, led by Pastor Dan Heskett. Her ashes will be interred at Conrad Cemetery in a private ceremony. To send a note of condolence to the family please visit www.buffalohillfh.com. Buffalo Hill Funeral Home is caring for the family.