Doris (Mangles) Bilodeau, one of the proud founders and owners of Douglas Auctioneers, died May 10 after a four-year battle with cancer. Born May 31, 1946, in Jersey City, N.J., she was the oldest child of Elizabeth and Roy Mangles of Oradell, N.J.

Upon meeting and marrying a charming Navy man, Douglas Bilodeau, Doris moved to Massachusetts, where she lived for most of her life. Initially a telephone service representative and student at North Essex Community College †where she earned an associate’s degree in arts †she then became the first secretary of the faculty senate at University of Massachusetts. As her husband’s auctioneering business grew, Doris left UMass to help run the business and start a family.

After time off to raise her two boys, James and Christopher, Doris attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, earning a BA in small business administration and public relations, then continued her education at Western New England College, School of Law, earning her JD. She was a private general practice attorney concentrating in small business law, real estate, wills and estate administration.

Doris’s contributions to the auction world were many †she was instrumental in developing computer systems for the auctioneering profession and taught auctioneering and auction law. Doris’s endeavors included being a graduate of the Certified Auctioneers Institute and of the Realtor Institute, and she was a former president of the Franklin County Bar Association. She was such a successful and active member of the community and of charity, she was honored as a “Woman of Distinction” by the Daily Hampshire Gazette in 2005.

Along with her family, Doris enjoyed traveling to Europe to buy antiques. She could frequently be found hiking the trails of Sugarloaf Mountain or biking through the roads of Old Deerfield. Doris was an avid nature photographer who took landscapes, still lifes and closeups of the nature into which she immersed herself. As a writer, she would pen poems and memoir pieces at various writing retreats. She also enjoyed researching her family’s history and journaling her personal history. Doris spent many years as one of the beautiful voices in the Sunderland Congregational Church choir.

Doris is survived by her beloved husband of 45 years, Douglas; her son James, and his wife, Megan Bilodeau, of Easthampton; her son Christopher, and his wife, Samantha Bilodeau, of Montague; her granddaughter Alex, and her sister, Linda Campbell of Virginia. Her family will miss her creative and spirited self very much.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Doris’s name to the charity of one’s choice.