Doris Mae Beams was born September 20, 1926 to Alton and Margaret Jeanette Beams in Ludington, Michigan. After her parents divorced less than three months later, she was adopted by her great-aunt and great-uncle Edward and May Fortune.

Doris married twice. The first time to William Menno Schrader with whom she had several children. Later she married John Pielick.

On December 30, 1997 Doris died in Grand Rapids, Michigan. John Pielick died several years later on February 21, 2016 in Traveler's Rest, South Carolina.