Doris Marie Cornett (nee Sommer), a long-time resident of Tempe, died Friday, July 14 at the age of 95. Doris was proud to have been
born in Arizona, graduating from Tempe High School in 1946.

   Doris was known throughout Tempe for beginning the Officers in the School program with the Tempe Police Department. After retiring
in 1988, she served as a volunteer with the Police Department, initiating, and then managing the Victim Assistance program for eight years.
She served in several other capacities until 2008 and made many friendships, inspiring others with her commitment and caring. In 2008
she helped start a similar volunteer program with the ASU Police Department, serving as coordinator for a few years.

   Doris received a BS in Kindergarten/Primary Education from ASU in 1962, an MA in Elementary Ed in 1968, and an Ed.D in 1974. Doris
had a long career as an educator in Tempe, beginning with teaching 1st grade at Thew Elementary School from 1962-65. After teaching
grades 3 and 4 and serving as coordinator at Evans School for four years, in 1971 she opened Carminati Elementary as its first principal. 
In 1976 she served one year as Acting Director of Personnel for the District; she said she discovered that she missed interacting with
the students. She opened Fuller Elementary School in 1977, serving as principal there until 1984. She was principal at Connolly Junior
High School until her retirement in 1988.

   Lest anyone think she wasn’t busy enough, she raised three children with her husband Bill Cornett, who died in 1998. They were
married for 51 years. Both of them were very active in the Tempe First United Methodist Church. Doris served as Sunday School teacher
and head of the primary department at the church until the babies she taught began bringing in their babies. She served on many church
committees, as well as starting the Tempe branch of Stephen Ministry, serving as coordinator/trainer for four years.

   Born in 1928 in Phoenix, her parents, Harold & Laverne Sommer, moved the family “back home” to Ohio in 1931, where she grew up
with 3 brothers: Jack, Bob, and Dick.  After WW-II the family decided that Arizona was really home and they moved back in time for
Doris’ senior year at Tempe Union High School. 

   In the years before raising children and attending college, she had several interesting jobs. In addition to working as a waitress and a
dishwasher, during high school in Ohio she worked as a pinsetter in a bowling alley and assembled bomber electrical harnesses in the
summers during World War II.  After her marriage to Bill in 1947, they owned and operated a self-service laundry.  The family lived on
Cedar Street in Tempe for many years.

   Doris moved to Desert Marigold in 2011 and quickly established herself as a person to be counted on. She watched out for the staff
and other residents, and – ever the principal/administrator – did not hesitate to make suggestions for improvements or repairs.  Her
skill with completing complicated jigsaw puzzles was legendary, and she made sure that the facility was supplied with puzzles.

   Ever curious and in service, Doris was a decades-long participant in a Sun Research study of brains, Alzheimer’s, and mental health,
culminating with being a donor for the final phase of her participation. We believe she would have been proud, and relieved, to know
that her 95-year-old brain was assessed to be cognitively “normal”.

   Doris is survived by many friends as well as her three children, Koneta, Dan (Susan), and Zane (Elaine); four grandchildren Siobhan
Sackey, Ben Sackey, Dana Beth Cornett Wile, and Joel Cornett; and four great grandchildren. Her older brother Bob Sommer survives her.