John Robert Doran

John Robert Doran, 67, left this Earth peacefully on August 7th, 2025 surrounded by his loving family, close friends, and his dog, Chuckie in his lap. He was born on May 6th, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Esther Hanskala and Frank Doran.

John was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN and spent many summers in Orr, MN on Myrtle Lake with his family. One of his proudest achievements was earning his pilots license in Franklin, TN where he made lifelong friends. He attended college at St. Cloud State University, in St. Cloud, MN, eventually moving to San Diego, CA where he lived for a handful of years with close friends. He then settled down in Colorado, working in the construction industry, where he met and married his best friend and love of his life, Charla Renee’ Manion in Castle Rock, CO. Their beautiful daughter, Emily was born in 1998. John loved being a father more than anything in the world, and having Emily was one of the proudest moments of his life. John worked as a Senior Design Engineer for the phone company in Colorado, and was transferred to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he and Charla raised Emily. They loved to go camping and fishing as a family up in the Uinta Mountains. John spent the last years of his life in sunny St. George, UT, with his wife Charla. He loved sitting outside in his beautiful garden, with his tiny pup Chuckie.

John was a loving husband, a devoted father, a great brother and a joyful friend to many. He was an extremely optimistic person, even amidst all of the challenges he faced throughout his life. You would always find John smiling and cracking jokes. He was such a joy and a light to be around, and could make anyone’s day brighter. We will miss the light he brought to the world, and we will miss his joyous laughter.

He is survived by his wife Charla Doran in St. George, UT, his daughter Emily Doran in Salt Lake City, UT, his sister Mary Jo Webber (Doug) in Henderson, NV, his brother Chuck Doran (Marita) in Castle Rock, CO, and several nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his mother Esther, his father Frank, and his sister Terri. A celebration of life will be held at a date TBD.