Doris was born on May 21, 1923 in Brookfield, MO to Floyd & Pearl Akers in a biracial marriage.  In 1927 her parents divorced, but her mother remarried in 1929 to John Lawson.  He got a job in Kirksville, so the family moved there.  "Doris' stepfather, John, was a piano player, and he often used this skill to entertain the children.  He could play almost anything from classical to gospel to honkey-tonk.  He taught Doris at a young age how to play three cords on the piano, and from this, Doris learned to play by ear.  She learned that she could pick up almost any instrument and play it from memory.  Doris' brother, Donald, got a trumpet one day and began taking lessons.  Doris was quite fascinated by it, so she tried playing it.  But, she was disappointed as it didn't come to her as easily as other instruments had.  As she slept that night, she dreamed she could play like the band leader, Tommy Dorsey, on the 1937 hit song "Once in a While." When she awoke in the morning, she picked up the trumpet and played the song straight through!  She knew she had been given a musical gift from God." (1)