Born June 26, 1939, in Dayton, Ohio, she graduated from Vandalia Butler High School in 1957. Dorothy attended Wittenberg College in Springfield, Ohio, The Ohio State University-Mansfield campus and Columbus College of Art and Design. Dorothy wore many hats during her working career and was employed as a secretary at BFGoodrich in Troy, Ohio, as a secretary for Mansfield City Schools, a bookkeeper and co-founder of Lakewood Racquet Club in Lexington, secretary/bookkeeper of Harbor North Marina in Huron, Ohio, bookkeeper at Annette’s Victorian Garden in Butler, worked in production at Possum Run Greenhouse and volunteered at Homespun Fashions in Mansfield.
On March 28, 1958, she married Gerald Rodney Lorentz at Grace Lutheran Church in Springfield. After his death, she became engaged to Robert A. Hauser on October 15, 2011. During her life, Dorothy was a member of several organizations including Mansfield Art Center, Ohio Genealogic Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, FFO, SBO, SCWF, CD, Little Washington Congregational Church (also the choir and women’s bible study), Gorman Nature Center, HHS and SOI.
Dorothy enjoyed sketching, painting, art, genealogy, journaling, gardening, birding, singing and traveling in her Scamp. She pondered over what to cook, cared for her pet, Berta, and enjoyed “pestering the people she loved”, although her family will tell you she never pestered them.
Dorothy and her family encourages everyone to read the passage “How they do live on” from the book “Listening to Your Life” by Frederick Buechner. The passage is especially poignant and meaningful when remembering and celebrating the life of someone no longer with us. Dorothy’s kind, adventurous spirit will live on in the hearts of those who loved her dearly.
She is survived by two children, Karl William (Chanda) Lorentz and Cynthia Gail (Vaughn) Coburn; five grandchildren, Logan Dodge (Natalie) Seevers, Emmaline Sage (Justin) Keller, Briahnna Dee (Jim) Speck, Kelly Marie McMahon, and Christopher Guist; and six great-grandchildren, Arianna Sage Keller, Lincoln Christopher Keller, Elanora and Elizabeth McMahon and Carter and Colson Guist.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Karl William Wilks and Jeannette Hambel Dodge; husband, Gerald Lorentz in 2009; and fiancé, Robert Hauser in 2019.
A memorial service will be held at Little Washington Congregational Church on July 27, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Little Washington Congregational Church Scholarship Fund, 2323 Washington South Road, Mansfield, OH 44903.
Wappner Funeral Directors and Crematory-Ontario is honored to serve the family.
