The daughter of W.E.H. Percival, Doris was raised as a devout Christian – both of her brothers became clergymen. She trained as a nurse at the Royal Prince Alfred and Royal North Shore Hospitals before joining the Church Missionary Society (CMS). Doris was asked to set up a BCA hospital at Ceduna in remote South Australia. Her seven-bed hospital was opened in a galvanised iron cottage on a farm in 1926. With time, the hospital was extended to include more beds and a small operating theatre. In 1928 Doris married Rev. Fred Dillon, BCA missioner at Ceduna, and travelled with him to his various parish appointments. Widowed in 1959, she continued her involvement with the CMS and the BCA throughout her life.

Sources used to compile this entry: Dickey, Brian (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Evangelical Biography, Evangelical History Association, Sydney, 1994.