Doris Kramer, the first woman appointed to the Mennonite Board of Missions, died on May 20, 2026, in her St. Jacobs, Ontario, home. She was 102.
Born Doris Miller on July 10, 1923, in Richards, Iowa, to Ira J. and Matilda (Weideman) Miller, she moved to Pennsylvania as a teenager. There she met Raymond L. Kramer, and they married in 1944. In 1958, the couple and their seven children moved to Canada, where Raymond became pastor at St. Jacobs Mennonite Church. After Raymond’s death in 1962, Doris raised their family with deep faith and community support while pursuing further education.
A servant-leader whose life embodied faithful discipleship and mission
After graduating from Conestoga College in 1975, she worked as a social worker with Family and Children’s Services to work with foster families. At St. Jacobs Mennonite Church, she served as a worship leader, mentor, sewing circle member and church council member. She was known for asking courageous questions, challenging narrow thinking and building warm friendships across ages and backgrounds.
A pioneering commitment to God’s global mission
Doris served as secretary of the Women’s Service Auxiliary and made history as the first woman appointed to the Mennonite Board of Missions (a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network). In this role from 1972 to 1980, she helped shape the church’s vision for international service and peacemaking.
She regularly hosted international visitors in her home, spoke in churches across Canada and beyond, visited women in prison and gave generously of her time and resources. In the final decade of her life, she sewed 4,753 bags for Mennonite Central Committee relief kits — a tangible expression of her lifelong passion for practical, hands-on service to those in need around the world.
Doris was preceded in death by her infant son Phillip James (1947); husband Raymond; her parents; her siblings (and their spouses) Mariette Stamper (Carl), Paul (Laverne), Lois Schlabach (David), John (Ann), Helen, and Charles (Mai Britt).
She is survived by her brother James Miller; children Jonathan (Janet MacDonald), Paul (Nancy Needham), Phyllis, Marcus (Catherine Robertson), Daniel (Laura Gray), Stephanie, and Mary Ette (Peter Yoder); 20 grandchildren; and 24 great-grandchildren.
