Luella Jane Doss (née McCartney)

Luella Jane Doss (née McCartney), 80, Boulder Junction, passed away peacefully on April 12, 2026, surrounded by her family. Born on June 29, 1945, in White Heath, Illinois, she was the beloved daughter of Dean and Viola McCartney.

Luella lived a life that was both vibrant and deeply devoted. Her quiet, steadfast faith gently guided the way she moved through the world and the way she cared for others. She met life with an exuberant spirit — full of laughter, warmth, and an effortless gift for lighting up any room — while always remaining grounded in her love of tradition, family, and home.

Luella grew up a farm girl in White Heath, Ill. and was active in the community and 4H. She graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Masters in Occupational Therapy. She worked in the mental health department at the University of Chicago, where she compassionately helped patients regain independence, dignity, and strength, and became known for her hard work, expertise and the care she brought to every person she served. Luella became a leader in the department and finally taught Mental Health OT at the University to upcoming OT students.

Luella shared a beautiful life with her late husband, William “Jud” Doss, and together they traveled the world, building a lifetime of memories. They welcomed their beloved son, Dwight “Brian” Doss.

Their life was rooted deeply in family, faith, and the Northwoods of Wisconsin, especially their beloved cabin, where Luella treasured gathering family and friends for laughter, storytelling, and her famous blue ribbon fried chicken year after year.

A gifted quilter, Luella found deep joy in her creative world. She believed that she could provide love and support to an even greater audience through quilting and so shifted her career. She poured love into every stitch, creating quilts, quilted animals, and wearable art that continue to live on in the homes and hearts of many. Her artistry grew into an extraordinary legacy, with wearable art that traveled around the world, including a special showcase in Japan. In Las Vegas, the Mirage Casino commissioned her to create an 18x18-foot quilt — an extraordinary testament to the scale and imagination of her work. She also created multiple fabric lines for Simplicity Pattern Company, sharing her creativity with quilters everywhere.

That same passion for quilting and community led her to found Wisconsin Quilters and become the driving force behind the creation of the Wisconsin Quilt History Museum in Cedarburg, leaving behind an institutional legacy that continues to preserve and celebrate the art she so deeply loved.

Luella was lovingly known as the “Chicken Lady” for her whimsical, life-size quilted chickens, which brought joy, humor, and unmistakable personality to her work and to everyone who knew her.

Luella found her greatest happiness in life’s most meaningful moments — her faith, her family, her quilting, and the many communities she built and inspired along the way. Her warmth, creativity, strength, and unmistakable spirit will be deeply missed and long remembered.

She is survived by her son Brian Doss; her nieces and nephews Patti Burbach and her children Pamela, Hugh, Jack, Henry, and Miles; Mark and Lisa Borelli and their children Anna Lynn, Marco, and Elise. She is also survived by her brother, Eddie McCartney and children Holly, Scott, Heather, and Crystal. She was a guardian aunt to Tori, Jill, and Ty Simpson, and Barry, Lindsay, and Kara Calhoun.

She was preceded in death by her husband Jud, her sister Patricia Ann, niece Pamela, her parents Dean and Viola, and her sister-in-law, Joanne (Doss) Simpson.

Luella’s life was a testament to faith, love, creativity, and legacy. Her impact lives on not only in her family, but in the global quilting community she helped shape, the institutions she built, and the countless works of art she shared throughout a lifetime of memories.