Doris Day’s death mourned in Carmel, where icon lived

Doris Day, the box-office queen and singing star whose wholesome, all-American image belied an often-turbulent personal life, has died, her foundation announced Monday.

Day spent much of her life on the central coast. Monday, fans and friends in Carmel mourned the loss of an entertainment icon.

She was known as “the girl next door” and was exactly that here.

“There’s a certain element of class about that woman, that’s a little bit hard to find,” Carmel mayor Dave Potter said. “She was truly our girl next door, and for us to not have her around our neighborhoods a little bit empty.”

Day was a leading woman and star on the stage, but those close to her, like her business partner of more than 30 years Denny Lavett, said her charm went well beyond that.

“What was it about Doris? Everything. Absolutely everything,” owner of the Cypress Inn Hotel Dennis Levett said.

Day was a lover of animals, and her foundation focuses on rescued animals. One of her biggest funds is the Duffy Day Lifesaving program at the SPCA of Monterey.

“These are pets that really need a lot before they’re homed, and she set that up and enabled us to do that and we are forever greatful,” Executive Director of the SPCA of Monterey Scott Delucchi said.

She was at the forefront of making Carmel one of the most pet friendly cities in the world. Levett said was Day’s idea to open the hotel to dogs.

“She spent the last 20-30 years of her life doing just that. Saving animals,” Levett said.

Day spent much of her life in the Carmel area.

“For me she was typically Carmel, she was kind of the grandam of Carmel,” Potter said.

Today, her fans and dear friends in Carmel said goodbye to her at age 97.

“Always Doris Day,” Levett said. “Always the most beloved person in the world.”