Doris was born on December 30,1920, to Erhard and Catherine Schroeder in Paso Robles, California, the seventh of eight children. She and her siblings attended a one room schoolhouse near Willow Creek. She enjoyed farm life with all the chores and farm tasks. She attended Templeton High School and completed a couple of years of college at Grace Bible Institute, Omaha, Nebraska.

She married David Wittenberg Jr. on March 13, 1945, in Atascadero, CA, and together they moved to Lancaster and Covina, California. With three children in tow, they adventured to Cuba as missionaries for almost nine years where their youngest son was born. In 1960 they left Cuba and settled in Sacramento, California. She ran a bookstore in Cuba, taught Sunday school throughout her life, and worked in the payroll department in the Sacramento City School District.

She went to be with the Lord on February 7, 2025.

She is preceded in death by her husband David Wittenberg (1981), her second husband Bert Jackson (1997), her daughter Francene Holm (2005), her parents, and her seven siblings. She is survived by her daughter Joyann Davis and her sons Philip Wittenberg and James Wittenberg, seven grandchildren, six great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.