Doiron Gallery founder expressed creativity through various art forms

Joyce Doiron, who was passionate about art and community, died June 27 from a three-year battle with cancer. She was 79.

Doiron, founder of Doiron Gallery, had a vibrant and welcoming personality that inspired others, said Ruth O’Neal, a friend of Doiron’s for the past 40 years.

“She was the life of the party … the Energizer bunny,” O’Neal said.

Doiron expressed her creativity through art, having painted landscapes and still-life paintings and later forming a career as a glass artist and gallery owner in Sacramento.

In 1997, Doiron opened the gallery on Del Paso Boulevard and ran it for 13 years.

Doiron aimed to develop an appreciation and knowledge of it in the Sacramento community, said daughter Nicolette Darlington.

She had up to 75 local artists represented in her gallery and would keep the smallest percentage of the sale so the artist could reap the most benefit, Darlington said. She enjoyed supporting other artists and meeting new people.

“Joyce never met a stranger. She could talk to anybody and make you feel special,” said Denise Williams, a friend of Doiron’s for the past 30 years. “Her life was cluttered with people, and that’s the way she liked it.”

Doiron moved to Sacramento in 1975 and traveled the world “twice over,” said Nicholas Doiron, her husband of 59 years and a retired U.S. Army colonel.

Doiron enjoyed traveling and moved with her husband 28 times – including stints in India, Pakistan, Europe and Taiwan – during the course of their marriage, Nicholas Doiron said.

“She always loved to try new things,” Darlington said. “Once she had done it she was ready to see how she could change it and make it better.”

In the early 1980s, Doiron and her husband were stationed in Naples, Italy. For her husband’s 50th birthday, she decided to throw a surprise party at a golf course that included friends of theirs from 16 different countries.

“I liked the way she used to be able to surprise me,” Nicholas Doiron said.

During her time in Sacramento, she was part of multiple community organizations, including the North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, the Old Sacramento Business Association, the Creative Arts League, the Artists Collaborative Gallery and the Crocker Art Museum.

“She knew she was on this earth to live and be productive,” Darlington said. “If it was helping others, shopping or being there to love and care for her family, she was a goer and doer.”

“Joyce didn’t do anything haphazardly or without passion,” Williams said. “She was a wonderful godmother, she was a dear friend and she will be missed.”

Doiron is survived by her husband, Nicholas, daughters Michelle Doiron and Nicolette Darlington, and one granddaughter.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Kaiser Hospice at 3240 Arden Way, Sacramento 95825.

A funeral Mass is scheduled at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Jesuit High School Chapel, 1200 Jacob Lane, Carmichael. The services are open to the public.

This story was originally published July 8, 2015 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Doiron Gallery founder expressed creativity through various art forms."