DORIS ALLIECE MARTIN ANDERSON

1941-2021

Doris “Scatterbrain” Alliece Martin Anderson, 79. died on January 7, 2021, in Sugar Land, TX. She is survived by husband of 61 years, Lonnie Lee Anderson; children, Julie and husband Thomas Laub (Albuquerque, NM); Kyle Anderson (St. Louis, MO); Sonya Valentine (St. Louis, MO); and Steven and wife Maritza Anderson (Missouri City, TX); grandchildren, William Laub, Catherine Lewis, Victoria Valentine, Preston Anderson, Tingting Laub, David Valentine, Jr., and Nathan Anderson; brother, Jimmy Martin; sister, Linda Collins. She was preceded in death by her father, Nathan “N.C.” Martin; her mother, Mable Martin; her granddaughter, Rachel Laub; and business partner and friend, Jimmie Robinson. Doris was born on March 18, 1941, in Louisiana, but her family returned to their deeply planted roots in East Texas soon after her birth. In 1959, she graduated from Gladewater High School in Gladewater, TX. On June 6, 1959, she married Lonnie Anderson and moved to Houston, Texas, where she and Lonnie began their family. In addition to Gladewater, she called Houston, Kingsville, Andrews, and Longview, Texas, home. A proud Texan, she only left the state for a brief time to follow her husband to Libya. Doris never met a stranger, amazing her children with her ability to strike up a conversation with anyone standing in line at the grocery store. Doris volunteered with many of her children’s extracurricular activities: Cub Scout Leader, Girl Scout Leader, Halloween Carnival Chair, and President of both the PTA and drill team booster club. Although she didn’t have any formal training, she was often called upon to cut the hair of boys in the neighborhood. She worked as a saleswoman at Neiman Marcus and Sears, a bank teller, an administrative assistant at Spring Branch Independent School District (all in Houston), and a receptionist at Buckner Senior Living (Longview).

But she is most famous for her entrepreneurial spirit. In the mid 70s, with the help of her mother and brother, Doris opened That T-Shirt Place, the first custom T-shirt shop in Houston. She enjoyed working with students from area schools, designing T-shirts for their clubs and sports teams. In 1978, she merged That T-Shirt Place with Jimmie Robinson’s The Velvet Touch. They expanded from the Spring Branch area to Galena Park then sold the business in 1982. Wife, Mom, Mimi, and entrepreneur, Doris’s priority was always family. We will remember her fondness for jewelry, clothes and conversation, her can-do spirit and creativity, and most of all her stubbornness, love and warmth.

As per Doris’s wishes, there will be no service.