Doris Portillo

Doris Portillo was born November 27, 1965, to Mercedes Benitez and Paula Parada in San Miguel, El Salvador. She was the fifth child of nine and the fourth girl. Doris received her cosmetology license at eighteen, and began her career in cosmetology. While living in El Salvador, the civil war and her family’s absence made it difficult to continue a life and pursue her career in El Salvador. At the age of twenty, Doris moved to the United States to join the rest of her siblings and her parents in Los Angeles, California.


From a young age, Doris had a strong work ethic, curious mind and undeniable desire for growth. She learned a new language and a new culture, while furtheringher education, and working at a hair salon in Beverly Hills. Misael Portillo walked into the salon one day for a haircut. Little did he know that his hairdresser would be the one cutting his hair for the rest of her life.


Doris and Misael were excited to begin their lives together and were married soon after. As Misael worked to provide for his home, Doris desired to pour into her children’s lives and delighted in being a wife and a mother. At 28 she became a Christian, and began living an exemplary life for Christ. She helped lead her husband to salvation and raised her children in the love of the Lord. She invested in her home and extended family as well as in many other women’s lives.


Doris was first diagnosed with cancer at the age of 36 while her children were only ten, nine, seven and two. This began her long and hard battle with cancer. Despite her pain, she worked hard to provide for her family and continued to serve and care for them with joy. She focused on her children’s needs instead of her own, demonstrated Christlike love and truly exemplified a Proverbs 31 woman. She never let her pain slow her down. Instead, her pain brought her closer to the Lord and gave her a humble, selfless, caring, forgiving and loving character. Her constant prayer was that the Lord would grant her the strength to raise her children and to be with her family.


Doris loved spending time with her family and demonstrated exceptionally well what it meant to be a Godly wife, mother, sister, aunt and cousin. Nothing brought her more joy than being with her family. She enjoyed family trips to national parks, walks through The Grove, 6 A.M. hikes at O’Melveny Park with her husband, shopping with her daughters, House Roots coffee runs, dinner with her sisters, nieces and nephews, phone calls with her siblings, and every second spent with anyone she met. Doris was the best confidant, encourager and listener to so many, and earned the title “mom” from those outside of family.


Doris was in and out of the hospital, and in constant pain as she continued to battle cancer. She battled endometrial, ovarian, liver, peritoneal and breast cancer. However, while her body deteriorated, her relationship with the Lord only strengthened. On January 17, 2022, she flew to Boise, Idaho to continue her cancer treatment. In the days leading up to her passing, she was surrounded by her sisters, nieces, husband, children and friends. Ten days into her treatment, the Lord graciously ended her pain and took Doris home to be with Him.


Doris left an example of a godly woman for everyone to emulate. Her godly character and her legacy of love continue in her husband and in her children.

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