Doris Sweet Obituary

Doris Clem Berry Sweet

March 15, 1946 -

August 4, 2025

MEMPHIS - Doris Clem Berry Sweet, R.N., was born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 15, 1946, the only child of Richard Clements Berry and Ruby Grace Wiseman Berry. Doris had a clear and beautiful first soprano voice, for which she was encouraged to pursue an operatic vocal career. Instead, after graduating from White Station High School, she pursued a career in nursing. As a child, Doris learned to be devoted and empathetic while accompanying her mother, who was also a nurse, to patients' homes in Memphis.

During nursing school at Baptist Hospital in Memphis, Doris met her future husband, Jo G. Sweet, who was a medical student at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine and who heard her sing a solo in church before asking her for a date. They became engaged merely weeks later, each of them telling others after their first date that they had just met the person they would marry. They married four days after Doris turned twenty on March 19, 1966, and were happily married for fifty-eight years. After marrying, Doris transferred to Fort Sanders Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in Knoxville, Tennessee because Baptist Hospital would not accept married students. She graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1967. Eventually, after Dr. Sweet's service in the Army, they settled in Knoxville, Tennessee where they raised their two daughters.

Doris loved working in a surgical suite, then medical offices, and finally in a quality control position. As a Red Cross instructor, she taught many people first aid and life-saving techniques, including her daughters how to resuscitate someone through CPR and to administer the Heimlich maneuver, which as of yet, they have not been called upon to perform on any live subjects. She volunteered as a middle school clinic nurse for many years. Doris loved a tightly tucked hospital corner, tidiness in general, and was especially vigilant for germs or anything "that could kill you", which became the subject of decades of good-natured family teasing.

She and her husband became fluent in Spanish, which they utilized for years in a Hispanic ministry through their church in Knoxville and during mission trips, including to Chile. They often hosted people from around the world for dinner at their house. She loved to converse in Spanish with people she encountered in the community, often to their surprise at her fluency. Doris and Jo also volunteered as community ambassadors with the Knox County Sherriff's Office Senior Citizen Awareness Network ("SCAN"). As SCAN volunteers, they wore uniforms and drove a marked patrol cruiser to make weekly visits to elderly and shut-in members of the community. Years later, Doris and Jo relocated to Washington County, Tennessee to be near their grandchildren.

Doris sang in a church choir her whole life, and taught Sunday School at various times. She was a devoted Mom to Suzy and Cyndi. She loved to fish, having been raised fishing in the Mississippi River with her aunt and uncle, who were a second set of parents to her. Doris always wanted those around her to be cared for and happy. She was gifted at encouraging others and demonstrating genuine love to those in her life. She never went to the mailbox without being dressed, coiffed, and wearing lipstick.

Mrs. Sweet was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Dr. Jo G. Sweet. She is survived by her daughters, Suzanne Sweet Cook (Joel) and Cynthia Jo Sweet (Angela Miller), and her grandchildren Samuel, Noah, and Sarah Grace Cook whom she loved dearly. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in honor of Noah Cook.

The family will receive friends from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm on Friday, August 8, 2025 at Tetrick Funeral Services.

The funeral service will be conducted for Mrs. Sweet at 1:00 p.m. in the chapel of Tetrick Funeral Services, Johnson City, with Reverend Joel Cook officiating.

The graveside committal service will follow in Mountain Home National Cemetery.

Tetrick Funeral Services, 3001 Peoples Street, Johnson City, TN 37604 is honored to serve the Sweet Family.