Doris, Frank A.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Illinois State Trooper
• Reference Number: DORI.F001
• _FGRAVE: 18363790
• Military Service: World War II, Technician Fourth Grade, 3468th Ordnance Motor Maintenance Company, United States Army

Notes:

Frank was killed in the line of duty as an Illinois State Police Officer.

Surviving are his wife, the former Gennell Pearce, and three sons: Rodney, Mark, and Donnie Doris.

Newspaper Article honoring Frank Doris:

Trooper Frank Doris

At about 8:20 a.m. on the sunny morning of May 27, 1967, Illinois State Trooper Frank Doris wrote out his last traffic ticket. Trooper Doris had been assigned to work at the State Police Headquarters in Watson. He had worked the 12 midnight to 8 a.m. shift and was enroute on U.S. Route 45 to his home.

Apparently Trooper Doris stopped a car for speeding and was sitting in his squad car filling out the arrest ticket when the unknown driver standing behind the squad car shot Doris in the head. A witness, Eugene Hale of Xenia, was working undeder a car at a house a short distance from the scene, heard a loud noise and car engine running wide open. Hale went over to the squad car and at this time Robert Goodman of Louisville and Jim Burr of Edgewood stopped at the scene. Trooper Doris' car was starting to catch fire so the three men, seeing that Doris had been wounded, removed him from the car to the yard of a nearby residence.

Trooper Harold Brooks, who had just come on duty, was at the Flora Police Department when they received a call that a State Trooper had been shot four miles north of Flora on Route 45. The police dispatcher, Paul Rose, dispatched an ambulance and Trooper Brooks drove immediately to the scene, saw the squad car on fire, and radioed for a fire truck. Trooper Doris was taken by ambulance to Clay County Hospital where he was dead on arrival.

Trooper Brooks questioned bystanders to see if anyone had seen or heard anything. Eugene Hale stepped forward and stated that he had seen a subject about five feet, ten inches tall, weighing around 180 pounds, wearing a white T-shirt and dark trtrousers, run from the squad car to a maroon car with an aluminum canoe on top and drive south-bound on Route 45. Trooper Brooks relayed the description to State Police Headquarters. They then dispatched the description to all units and towns and advised them to set up road blocks on roads in the area.
A little before 9 a.m., Fairfield Police Chief Edward Jackson, game warden W. Wilson and Wayne County Deputy Loren Mauck had set up a roadblock west of Fairfield on U.S. Route 45. A maroon Mustang with an aluminum canoe on top ran through their roadblock and continued eastbound on Illinois 15. Just east of there, State Police Detective Robert Lee met the maroon Mustang, turned around and joined the others in pursuit of it. The Mustang traveled through Fairfield and east on Illinois 15. A few miles east of Fairfield, Troopers Dale Kay and Kay Marlow set up another roadblock which the car went through without stopping. Trooper Donald Eubanks set up a third roadblock at the west edge of Albion, again the Mustang evaded them.

By this time, Troopers Harold Jones, Robert Caldwell, and Cpl. Donald Johnson had joined in the chase. The Mustang drove through Albion and headed north on Illinois 130. Cpl. Johnson managed to overtake and pass the Mustang which had driven up to speeds of 100 miles per hour in the 50 mile chase. Cpl. Johnson stayed directly ahead of the car and would not let it pass. He kept slowing down with the other squads behind the Mustang until the driver finally lost control, ran off the roadway and overturned just north of Samsville between Albion and Olney. The troopers at the scene captured the driver as he crawled out of the Mustang. He gave his name as William Carter. They found a .39 caliber revolver and an arrest ticket book that belonged to Trooper Doris. A speeding ticket by Trooper Doris made out to William Carter was in the ticket book. It was later established that the suspect's real name was Ura Gaines, age 60, of Chicago, formerly of Elizabethtown, Illinois, who had been living and working as an electrician in the Chicago area for about three years. He had been given a one-year-to-life sentence for burglary 25 years before in 1932.

Ura Gaines suffered a hip fracture in the auto mishap when he was captured. Surgery for this was performed at Richland Memorial Hospital in Olney. Gaines was then removed to Clay County Hospital where Sheriff Boone Hiser maintained an around ththe clock guard on him. On July 23, Gaines attempted to escape. When Russell Mitchell, the night guard stepped out of the room for a minute, Gaines slipped out of his restraint, picked up a metal stool and struck Mitchell on the head when he came back into the room. Mitchell, however, was able to subdue Gaines who was then transferred to Clay County Jail.

Ura Gaines was indicted for the murder of Trooper Frank Doris by a Clay County Grand Jury on June 14, 1967. Trial date for the murder was set for November 13, 1967 before Judge Raymond O. Horn of Salem on a change of venue due to the request of Gaines' attorney, who felt that Gaines would not receive a fair trial in Clay County.

Court convened at 10 a.m. on November 13, 1967, at which time a jury was selected and the trial got underway on November 15, at 3 p.m. The State was very ably and successfully represented by States Attorney H. Carroll Bayler of Louisville.

On November 18, 1967, the jury returned a guilty verdict and recommended the death sentence. Ura Gaines was sentenced to death on Friday, January 5, 1968. Judge Horn set March 15 as the date for the execution which, in Illinois, meant the electric chair.

Ura Gaines died in prison at Menard on April 7, 1968, of natural causes before his sentence could be carried out.

Trooper Doris, age 42, of Clay City, was survived at the time of his death by his wife Gennell, and three sons, Rod, age 18, Mark, age 12, and Donnie, age 8.

(Published-Hometown Journal - May 13, 2008)

Military Service:
Entered active service as a draftee on August 20, 1943 at Chicago, Illinois. Trained as a Heavy Truck Driver (military occupational specialty 931) and departed the Continental U.S. on August 11, 1944 bound for the European Theater of Operationsns. Served with the 3466th Ordnance Motor Maintenance Company. Earned the Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the WWII Victory Medal. Honorably discharged from the Ordnance Corps as a Technician Fourth Grade on April 9, 1946 at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin.

This information has been posted on the National World War II Memorial's Registry of Remembrances website by Robert Medley Gatewood. It is entered here with his permission.

Source: https://wwiiregistry.abmc.gov/honoree-plaque/?honoree_id=1926518

Died:
Frank A. Doris

Trooper Frank Doris was shot and killed during a traffic stop. Trooper Doris had just finished his night shift working the desk at District 12 Headquarters. He was on his way home to Clay City when he pulled over a bright red Mustang for speeding on Route 45 near Flora.

As he sat in his squad car issuing a ticket, Trooper Frank Doris was shot in the head by the speeder, who then fled. A reflex made the slain trooper’s foot press against the accelerator, causing the car to overheat. Nearby residents pulled Trooper Doris’ body from the car just before it burst into flames. He was taken to Clay County Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Troopers quickly located the assailant, a 60-year-old ex-convict, who led officers on a three-county chase with speeds reaching as high as 130 mph. Troopers were able to box in and apprehend the killer near Albion in Edwards County. In the car, they found Trooper Doris’ ticket book and a .38 caliber revolver that was used as the murder weapon.

The killer was charged with murder. He was subsequently found guilty and died in prison while serving his sentence.

Trooper Frank Doris was a 10-year veteran of the Illinois State Police – District 12, Effingham. He was also a World War II veteran and a local businessman before joining the Illinois State Police. He was survived by his wife and three sons.

Source: https://www.odmp.org/officer/4212-trooper-frank-a-doris

Frank married Pearce, Gennell Fern on 17 May 1947 in Flora, Clay County, Illinois. Gennell (daughter of Pearce, Lynn A. and Staley, Leora) was born on 8 Jan 1924 in Clay County, Illinois; died on 21 May 2000 in Olney Care Center, Olney, Richland County, Illinois; was buried in Clay City Cemetery, Clay City, Clay County, Illinois. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Doris, R.
2. Doris, M.
3. Doris, D.