Dorothy passed away suddenly on Saturday, June 15, 2024. A lifelong Lutheran with a strong faith and love for Jesus, she has surely passed into the loving arms of her Lord and Savior.
Dorothy was an RN, which was the perfect vocation for her caring, loving and giving spirit. Her love for all living things extended to gardening and animals. She would have adopted every stray cat and dog if Jim would have allowed it. Her current pack of adoptees includes Millie, Misty, Andy and most recently little
Magpie. Dottie volunteered at SFES where she doted on her favorite horse, Prince, and she also sewed dog blankets for the Louisa Humane Society. Dorothy LOVED to travel making multiple trips to San Diego, Myrtle Beach, Emerald Isle, Pensacola, Cancun, Grand Lake (OK), Reno, Colorado and Wyoming, plus trips to Hawaii, Chicago, NYC, Wisconsin Dells, Gatlinburg, Charleston, Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Virginia Beach, New Orleans, San Antonio, Padre Island and countless other locations. The only thing Dorothy loved more than animals and the beach was her family, especially her two Marine sons and their families.
Dorothy is survived by her husband of 37 years, Jim; her son, Patrick of Spotsylvania, VA, his wife Megan and their children Audrey, Abel, Abby, Amelia and baby “A” expected in the Fall; her son, Eric, of Yuma, AZ, and his wife, Lindsay; her brother, Roy and his family in Tennessee; and several cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Per her previously expressed wishes, she will be cremated and her ashes scattered at her favorite locations. A Celebration of Life reception is planned for her at Lake Anna, Virginia for friends and another will be held in her hometown of St. Charles, Missouri later this Summer.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to your local Humane Society, Serenity Farms Equine Sanctuary (SFES) or the charity of your choice.
Dorothy’s life:
Dorothy was born on September 25,1959 in St. Charles, Missouri, the daughter of Edward and Mary Holmes. She was baptized on October 11, 1959 at Zion Lutheran Church where she also attended school K through 8th grade. She was confirmed at Zion on May 20, 1973. Her confirmation verse is Matthew 28:19. She graduated from Francis Howell High School in 1977 and immediately began pursuing a career in healthcare by working as a Nurse’s Aid and graduating with her RN degree from Missouri Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in 1983.
Dorothy began working at St. Joseph Hospital and she spent the 1st 10 years after graduation in the Emergency Room, where she became known as Dottie because another Dorothy working in the ER “was there first”. Dot loved the fast pace and adrenaline rush of working traumas. She eventually worked every floor in the hospital. Through the years, she was a veritable ‘urgent care center’ herself fielding countless medical inquiries from friends, family and neighbors. Dot worked a brief stint as a flight nurse until Jim asked that she stop because it was too dangerous with two young boys at home. Near the end of her career, Dot worked in pain management and local outpatient surgery centers, finally ending with what she called her “retirement job” working from home doing insurance verification for Magellan after both shoulder replacements dictated leaving direct patient care.
Dorothy LOVED the beach and had a job lined up in San Diego when she met Jim on January 18th, 1985. Their first date was at Casa Gallardo Mexican restaurant. After dinner, they decided to go to the St. Louis Auto Show since she was looking to trade in her old Sunbird. After choosing an Olds Calais, they spent the rest of the night dancing at 94th Aero Squadron, a favorite hangout for McAir workers. She and Jim were married on October 11th, 1986 and honeymooned in San Diego. They bought their first home in St. Peters, Missouri where they were blessed with two sons, Patrick and Eric. As the boys grew, that house shrank and they bought an old rambling ranch home they saw advertised on a local real estate show. The home sat on a double lot just tailor made for active boys. It definitely wasn’t Dorothy’s dream house but, as always, she wanted to please everyone else and proceeded to make it a home for her family.
Busy years passed with work, home projects, kids sports of every sort and family vacations. Along the way, they bought their first lake home at Indian Hills Lake in Cuba, Missouri where Dorothy taught Patrick how to ski. She liked to razz us about leaving her floating in the middle of the lake as we motored off when he finally stayed up on his skis. Eventually, kids sports took up too much time to keep up with the 2nd home, so it was sold and replaced with a bigger boat for use on the Mississippi & Illinois Rivers, closer to home. Upon graduation from high school in 2007, Patrick enlisted in the Marines. He scored well on the ASVAB
test and selected Signals Intelligence. After peppering the Recruiting Sgt with a zillion questions, Dorothy was finally on board. You’ve never seen a more proud Marine Mom at his boot camp graduation. It didn’t hurt that it was in San Diego!!! She spent a nervous year in 2011 when Pat served back-to-back deployments at a forward base in Afghanistan. Ironically, we lived on Kandahar Drive at the time. She slept with one eye open watching the phone for the sporadic middle of the night satellite phone calls from Patrick. 2011 also brought Eric’s graduation from high school and off to Mizzou for his Mechanical Engineering degree, which he earned in 2015, a proud Mizzou Mom moment for Dorothy.
After Patrick left for the Marines, we switched gears from boating to Eric’s preference, dirt bikes and 4-wheelers. We bought a lot in a camper community called Wildwood next door to the nuclear plant in Callaway County. Missouri. Wildwood boasted a shooting range, small lake, 400 acres of riding trails and even a pool, hillbilly heaven! Many friends enjoyed campfires and our shed full of powersport toys. Dorothy personalized HER 4-wheeler with colorful round stickers and called it Dippin’ Dot! That was all sold (except the dirt bikes!) when Eric graduated from Mizzou in 2015 and “flew” off to the Marines to pursue his dream of flying. Eric received his Officer Commission in 2016 and his first salute from his brother, Patrick. That was a doubly proud Marine Mom moment for Dorothy!! Eric went off to flight school and now Dorothy had TWO Marines to worry about and pray for. Yet another proud Marine Mom moment came when Eric received his wings and was selected for jets. Now empty-nesters, Dorothy and Jim spent weekends taking day trips to festivals, antique malls, wineries and breweries all over eastern Missouri.
2016 also brought a trip to Patrick and Megan’s wedding in Fredericksburg with the reception at Lake Anna Winery, one of Dorothy’s favorites! Just 10 months later, Dorothy’s first grandchild arrived, Audrey, who is now 7! Followed by Abel 5, Abby 3 and Amelia 1. Dorothy was anxiously awaiting the next little ‘A’ due this Fall. Dorothy’s beloved family grew again in 2020 when Eric and Lindsay were married.
2020 brought retirement and a move to Virginia to be closer to her precious, adorable grandkids which she spoiled and loved dearly. When the lake view at their first Lake Anna home became obscured by trees, Jim and Dorothy opted to build on the hill in Rock Island where she loved sitting on the front porch in the morning with Millie and a cup of coffee just watching the cows in the nearby rolling pasture. In the afternoon or evening, she enjoyed wine on the deck, again with her dear Millie, overlooking the lake while watching her favorite Netflix shows and ‘supervising’ construction around the neighborhood. The new home has an entire room dedicated to Dorothy’s Wizard of Oz collection, go figure! On one family trip to Colorado, she got a surprise visit to the Wizard of Oz museum in Wamego, KS. The boys laughed and commented that “Mom has more stuff than this!”.
Dorothy especially loved taking the kids on the boat and watching them play in the muddy sand on the shoreline. She also loved Trivia Nights, Hand and Foot card games, gathering with friends for any occasion and just plain shopping to spoil the grandkids.
Her passing leaves a canyon sized hole in our hearts. She was as genuine a person as you will meet. You never had to guess what she was thinking at the moment! Dottie was always willing to do anything she could to help somebody. A lifelong believer in charity, a trait inherited from her mother, Dorothy taught her sons (and husband!) the value of tithing while she gave of her own time and treasure to a multitude of causes that touched her heart, especially SFES and the Humane Society. Always willing to help and wanting the best for everyone around her, friends, family, patients or strangers sums up her entire, and all too short, life. Rest in peace, my love!
