Obit: Dean, Dorothy Louise (1924 - 2020)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Dean, Lange, Ehlers, Carter, Capen, Roney, Roethler

----Source: Marshfield News-Herald (Marshfield, Wood Co., WI) 12/10/2020

Dean, Dorothy Louise (8 August 1924 – 9 November 2020)

The Lord called Dorothy Louise Dean home on November 9, 2020. She passed away peacefully in her sleep in the comfort of her own home.

Dorothy was born on August 8, 1924 near Ivanhoe, Minnesota, to parents Herman and Bertha (Lange) Ehlers. By 1930 the family had moved to Scott County in Iowa, with residences in the Princeton and Le Claire area, where she was raised and attended school.

She grew up as a farm girl, gardening, baking, cooking, cleaning, canning, etc. This is where she learned to become such a great cook and baker and started her love for gardening. This is also the time she developed her excellent penmanship which she used to craft letters to family and friends as though she was having a conversation with them.

Dorothy married Seward Lester Dean, on September 29, 1946, at Little Bit O' Heaven gardens in Davenport, IA. From this union they had two children Ronald Lee and Nancy Lorraine.

They remained in the Davenport area until 1956 when the family moved to a dairy farm near Christie, Wisconsin. There, Dorothy fully moved from the role of farm girl to farm wife and homemaker. For several summers after that, the farmstead looked more like a summer resort with numerous visits from Iowa relatives and friends. She managed to keep up with all of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, gardening and the occasional evening card game, without the modern appliances we have today.

Even though she never obtained a driver's license she was able to visit and learn about many places in the world by her writing of letters and cards to many friends and family. She was also an avid reader of magazines and books, many of which she still has.

In 1983 Dorothy and Seward moved to Marshfield to "enjoy the city life". They had sold the farm and Seward was retired from Marshfield Homes. They were now able to travel some and completed a number of those trips they had put aside while farming. Seward passed in August of 1996 and Dorothy remained in the house.

Her final years were spent with many visits from family and friends, working at crafts, writing letters and putting photographs in albums to help chronicle her family's life. As the years went by her health deteriorated and it was hard to move around in the house, her fingers began to hurt and letter writing became difficult, so she turned to using the phone more frequently. She was now getting homecare and developed lasting friendships with some of the homecare workers.

She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers Ottomer, Frederick, and Hugo. Also preceding her death was her husband of 50 years and beloved grandson Kem Carter.

Family members left to cherish her memory, her son Ronald (Susanne) Dean, daughter Nancy (Chris) Capen, grandchildren Dawn Primrose (Thomas Roney), Mellissa (Chris) Roethler, great-grandchildren (Samantha, Haley, Jacob, Sydney, Kevin, and Mason), and great-great-grandchildren (Ayden and Alic), nieces, nephews and extended family.

Through her entire life she maintained her lasting faith in God and chose to view life as the glass half full.

Go online to www.hansonschillingfuneralhome.com/obituary/Dorothy-Dean  to see an extended obituary and leave condolences. The family has entrusted Hanson-Schilling Funeral Home & Crematory for the final arrangements.

There will be a private burial at a later date. Dorothy's request for memorials can be made to her church, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church & School (Marshfield) or The Salvation Army.

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