Doris Morningstar-Bayes

Doris Rose Dentel Morningstar Bayes, 100, of Muskegon, Michigan, passed away on March 11, 2026, at The Leila and Cyrus Poppen Hospice Residence. Born on May 19, 1925, in Adrian, Michigan, she was the daughter of Earl and Mary (Hoffman) Dentel. A graduate of Onsted High School, Doris married Hardy Morningstar on September 23, 1943, in Lenawee County. Their 41-year marriage brought them three daughters and a rich family life that later grew to include seven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.

During World War II, Doris traveled with Hardy to various Army Air Force bases across the country. After the war, the couple settled on a farm in Onsted, where she devoted herself to raising their daughters, Jane, Joan, and Jill, while tending to their home and garden. Following Hardy’s death, Doris returned to Onsted Public Schools as a school bus driver, where she formed lasting bonds with coworkers and students, including her own grandchildren. She retired in 1990. Later that year, she reconnected with her childhood friend Richard Bayes, and they shared 13 years of marriage filled with adventure.

Doris was known for her creativity and many interests, including needlepoint, baking, playing the piano and organ, gardening, traveling, bowling, shuffleboard, bingo, and card games. She possessed a remarkable knowledge of plants, flowers, and birds, and generously shared that wisdom with her family. Her quick wit, playful humor, and infectious laugh brought joy to everyday moments, whether telling jokes, making silly faces, or gathering roadside asparagus and cherries. Devoted, kind, intelligent, and generous, Doris lived with a strong spirit, a positive outlook, and a joyful heart that lifted everyone around her.

She was a charter member of the Durkee-Seager Unit 550 American Legion Auxiliary and a longtime member of Orange Grove Free Methodist Church in Bradenton, Florida. Doris is survived by her daughters Jane Morningstar (Steve Pauline), Joan Bartlett, and Jill Daugherty (Randy); her grandchildren John Morningstar (Kristina), Amy Pelham (Tyler), Danielle Thomson (Jim), Nora VanStrate (Tim), and Caleb Schultz; her great-grandchildren Grant Pelham (Alyssa), Nick Morningstar, Rosie Jomaa (Mounib), Ashlee Pelham, Noah Morningstar, Madalyn Schultz, Andrew Schultz, Tripp VanStrate, and Hardy VanStrate; and her great-great-grandchildren Kaz and Kruz Jomaa and Rhett Pelham, along with many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husbands Hardy Morningstar and Richard Bayes, grandson Andrew Schultz, granddaughter Jennifer Yahrmarkt, her parents, and her siblings Gordon (Dorothy) Dentel and Beryl (Glenn) Jessup.