Doris Layer  

Birth: Born around 1918 in Washington.  

Family Information: Daughter of Harry and Opal (Emry) Layer.

Sister of Lyle Layer.

Granddaughter of Robert and Cora Emry.  

Description:  

Pre-Colony History: In 1920 she was living in Washington with her parents, sister and paternal grandmother. In 1930 the parents and two children were living in Iowa.

In June 1931 the family arrived for a visit with the Ray Bradshaw family who were living in the colony -- Mrs. Layer was a sister to Nettie Bradshaw -- they planned to stay for some time and were already on the job the first day.  

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony: In July 1931 she and Helen Joe Dougherty looked after the dining room during breakfast.

In March 1932 she was working in the kitchen, washing dishes. In June she helped Mrs. Killian and her "busy beavers" make peanut butter. The helpers were Vivian Busick, Myrtle Maki, Irene Maki and Marguerite Killian.

In 1934 she was preparing vegetables and serving food at the hotel dining room, along with Mrs. Mahler and her daughter, Hulda, Miss Linderman, Mrs. Murray, Arlene Watson, May Gossett, Mary Harlow-Fay and Erma Hayes. 

Other Info: In 1932 colonists did a play called "Mrs. Sullivan in Politics" starring Mrs. Ray Bradshaw as the lady who wanted to be boss of the "society". Doris, her mother and cousin Verda Bradshaw also had roles. Before the curtain rose, Doris came out and declared (among other statements) that she wanted the "audjiance" to know that "SHE was the whole show, not the actoriness that were about to appear." Her comedy "went over big".

In December of that year she presented an amusing monolog "A Busted Romance" in which she recounted the seven or ten different times that she failed to get the connubial knot tied.

In November 1933 the weekly bridge club met at the new home of Mrs. Myrtle Bradshaw. Those present were Misses Ruth Shoemaker, Vivian Busick, Mary Lou Monk, Doris Layer, Rhea Baldwin, Lloyd Potter, Earl Swenson, Lionel Crossland, Roy McClean, John Dougherty and Fred Busick.  

Post-Colony History:  

Death: Died in 2001 in Los Angeles, California.  

Sources: US Census: 1920, 1930, 1940; "Llano Colonist": June 6, 1931, July 18, 1931, March 19, 1932, March 26, 1932, April 16, 1932, June 16, 1932, September 24, 1932, December 10, 1932, November 4, 1933, April 7, 1934; US SSDI