Page 25 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2017- Online Magazine

Around the World and Back to heard her sing was in Turkey. She was
Lubbock performing for a group of people in the
same location he had a meeting. “He
Dorris Kirk-Maxey was born in 1919 stopped in the hall and said, ‘Who is
in Lipscomb County, located in the that, and what is she doing here?’ He
far northeastern corner of the Texas opened the door, and it was me!”
Panhandle. Her parents were pioneers
and homesteaded their land in the early When asked how the General would
1900s with only describe her, Dorris pauses to think,
two mules and and with a smile says, “Ornery.” Those
a hand plow. who know her might agree, but she is
Dorris was the also strong and driven, even today at
youngest of 10 93 years old. And what is most striking
children, with about her reflections of this gypsy-like,
seven older military life is that it didn’t change the
brothers and person she was or is. She continued
two older sisters. to pursue her musical passions, and
She attended in many countries continued her
high school in educational work as a counselor to
Spearman, Texas students who wanted to attend college
and earned her in the states.
degrees from Texas Tech University
before joining the faculty there. After 33 years of honorable service,
General Faver retired from active duty.
In 1965, a friend introduced Dorris to In the summer of 1980, he accepted a
Dudley, who was then serving as Wing lectureship at Texas Tech University,
Commander at Reese Air Force Base. Of and Dorris found herself back in Texas.
their meeting, Dorris says, “It didn’t… Since then, she has become passionately
It didn’t take. I wasn’t impressed. Wing involved in the management of the
Commander at Reese? Big deal!” she family company, which includes
laughs. At a dinner party a few weeks farming and ranching on the same
later, the persistent friend insisted land her parents
Dudley walk Dorris home at the end claimed so many
of the night, and something clicked. A years ago. The
whirlwind courtship ensued, and the general passed
newlyweds followed military orders to away in 2011,
relocate to Washington, then Europe. but his story
is captured in
“I married the Air Force. And that’s the Dorris and
exactly what happened—I married Dudley Faver
the Air Force,” Dorris says. “I loved to Gallery of Flight
travel, and we did a lot of that. I loved exhibit at the
to fly, and heaven knows we did a lot Lubbock Science
of that.” Dorris even recalls a desire Spectrum. Dorris
to become a pilot herself, except she’s adds, “Military
been legally blind since childhood. “I life is a good
couldn’t see, and I wasn’t permitted life. I would
to pursue flying.” But she could sing recommend it
beautifully and graced opera stages to anybody. I
around the world as a professional would.”
vocalist, singing in Europe, Asia, and
Africa. The first time General Faver

Certainly, Fran Hise and Dorris Faver were not
just the women who stood behind great men. Their
stories of sacrifice prove they stood side-by-side with
their husbands, serving the country hand-in-hand.
The battles they fought were not the same kind their
husbands would remember, but they are battles
worthy of respect and honor, nonetheless.
Lubbock Senior Link 25