Dorothy Byrum Sipes, born Sep. 3, 1927, the only child of Claud Thomas and Aliene Hundley Byrum, died Sep. 16, 2020. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, George Hobart Sipes. She is survived by her children, Tom Sipes (Patty) of Decatur, Ala. and Pam Scheet (Gordon) of Papillion, Neb.; sisters-in-law Faye Johnson and Phyllis Sipes of Jackson, Tenn.; Ileen Shoemaker (Jerry) of Huntsville, Ala.; many nieces and nephews, and friends too numerous to count.
Dorothy was born in Madison County, Tenn., graduated from Jackson High School and attended Union University, where she pledged Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. She and George married in 1950 and were married 63 years until his death in 2013. She resided in Decatur beginning in 1958 and was a lifelong community volunteer. She joined First Baptist Church in 1959 and taught a first grade Sunday School class for over 20 years with her now-departed friends Carolyn Driver and Frances Sherman. Over the years she also volunteered with the Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, American Red Cross and Decatur High School Band Boosters. She was a 56-year member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and also was a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
She was a Godly woman and a serenely beautiful person who loved her family, her country, and her friends, and was loved in return by all who knew her. Her family thanks Russell Barr, M.D. for the years of medical care he provided that enabled Dorothy to live to the age of 93, as well as the staff members of Morningside Assisted Living, Westminster Assisted Living, and NHC Moulton for the excellent care and quality of life they provided to Dorothy, and to Hospice of the Valley for easing her out of this life and into the next with tenderness, respect, and dignity.
A graveside service will be held at Roselawn Cemetery, Decatur, Ala. on Monday, Sep. 21 at 2 p.m. with the Reverend Jack Lovelace officiating and the Reverend Matt Rouse providing music. CDC guidelines, including masks and social distancing, will be observed. In lieu of flowers the family requests friends make donations to the charities of their choice or to either Hospice of the Valley, Decatur, Ala. or to First Baptist Church, Decatur, Ala.
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