Portrait of Doreen Branton. IMB Photo
Eleanor Doreen Hamilton Branton, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Canada, died Jan. 7, 2026. She was 96.
Doreen was born Nov. 4, 1929, in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, to the late Ralph William Hamilton and Clarissa Calkins Hamilton. She graduated from Magee High School, Vancouver, British Columbia, and received the Licentiate in Theology from Northwest Baptist Bible College in Vancouver and the Bachelor of Religious Education from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Mill Valley, California.
After high school, Doreen was employed as a secretary for Watkins-Winram and Marpole Woodyard, Ltd., while she saved money for college. In 1952, she graduated from college and became engaged to Ken Branton. They were married on Oct. 10, 1952. During the following two years, they served Victoria Drive Baptist Church in Vancouver, where Ken was pastor. Later, they moved back to the University of British Columbia, where Ken finished college and Doreen worked as secretary to the dean of the commerce department and assistant director of the extension department of the university. In 1956, they both enrolled at Golden Gate seminary. After graduation, Ken began the first of several pastorates. Doreen served in various roles during this time, including church organist, pianist, choir director, secretary, Sunday school teacher, and Mission Friends leader.
While seeking missionary appointment, Doreen recalled how her involvement in church life from a young age shaped her call to missions. She wrote, “This, plus reading biographies of missionaries and hearing missionaries from the Regular Baptist Convention, Sudan Interior Mission and China Inland Mission impressed me deeply. Completing a booklet at camp, I recorded I felt God was calling me into foreign missions, and I was willing to follow.”
In 1982, the International Mission Board appointed Ken and Doreen missionaries to Zimbabwe. They worked with seminaries and local churches and later served in Zambia and Canada.
Doreen was preceded in death by her husband of almost 65 years, Kenneth George Branton.
She is survived by her daughter, Heather Branton.
A celebration of life service will be held May 9 at Queen Anne Baptist Church in Seattle, Washington.
Read an obituary here.