Dotti L Van Nattan

Born October 6, 1945 in St. Louis, MO to Nelson Eugene and Margaret Mary (Valentine) Sea, she was the first born child of nine children. Dotti was raised and lived in Pekin & Peoria her whole life. Dotti was preceded in death by her father in 2008 and her mother in 2010. She also was preceded in death by one niece at birth, Brandy Wheatley.

Dotti didn’t have any children of her own. She married Dick Mohn of Peoria in 1967 then Gary Wehnes in 1977. Dotti later married her high school sweetheart, Terry Lee Van Nattan on February 10, 2004 at Clearwater, FL and said it was “Forever & Always.”

Dotti is survived by her loving husband, Terry; four sisters, Debbie Wheatly, Donna (Jim) March, Diane (Randy) Roots and Dawn (Greg) DePeugh, all of Pekin; three brothers, Daniel (Marsha) Sea of Melbourne, FL, David (Tracey) Sea of Billings, WY and Doug (Laurel) Sea of Omaha, NE; twostepdaughters, Cindy (Don) Reis of Champaign and Sue (Darren) Benassi of Pekin;one step-son, Ricky (Frankie) Van Nattan of Pekin;many nieces and nephews; many step-grandchildren and several step-great-grandchildren, all of whom she was very proud of and loved very much.

Dotti was a 1964 graduate of Pekin Community High School.

She worked in the Pekin/Peoria area for companies including: Vonachen, Cation, Lawless, Traeger & Slevin Law Office; Whitney Veterinarian Clinic; Graybar Electric Co., Peoria Convention & Visitors Bureau, Adams Outdoor Advertising; PAC Supply; Deverman Advertising; Stetson Building Products. Her favorite company to work for was Illinois Machine and Tool in North Pekin, where she worked for 9 years in customer service, retiring in 2005.

Her one main dream in life was to place in the top ten of the Illinois Quarter Horse Futurity, which she did in 1977, placing 8th out of 135 head, with a filly named “Aledo’s Bar B Doll.” She loved horses and enjoyed trail riding, showing in the Barrel Racing, Flags, Pole Bending, Pleasure Riding and Halter classes. She raised Reg. Qtr. Horses, judged show events and gave lessons to the younger generation. She belonged to several horse clubs including the Pekin Morton & Eureka Riding Clubs, the American Quarter Horse Association and the Illinois State Stock Horse Association. Her love for animals included dogs; especially, a Doberman named “Jay Dog” which was her best friend and she always said no one would ever replace him.

Dotti loved anything outdoors – horseback riding, golf, volleyball, tennis, gardening, lawn work and loved to watch drag racing. Other hobbies included playing pool and bowling. Her favorite pastime in the evening was dancing of all kinds; her mother always said she had “happy feet.” She also loved to cook, especially fried chicken and chicken & noodles, baking pies, cakes & desserts. She even went to Savannah, GA to Paula Deen’s restaurant, “The Lady & Sons” and got an autographed copy of her cookbook. Dotti placed second place in the Peoria Rib Bib Cook-off in 1989 while working at Adams Outdoor Advertising. Dotti was a great football fan and also a diehard Chicago Bears fan, never giving up on them once.

Dotti & Terry loved traveling especially to Maderia Beach, FL, which they considered their second home; making many friends from all over the world. They also loved the Islands, such as the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Jamaica and thought the Riviera Maya in Mexico was fantastic. They loved the sunny and warm weather elsewhere when it was cold in Illinois. Dotti was quite active in the Peoria/East Peoria area, having served as president of the National Association of Women in Construction in 1992-93. She was honored as “Woman of the Year in Construction” in 1991. She belonged to the Peoria Chamber of Commerce, was an Ambassador for the East Peoria Chamber of Commerce and served on committees with Easter Seals; St. Jude and the March of Dimes. She had modeled for the Salvation Army Style Show and the St. Jude Style Show and enjoyed delivering meals for the South Side Mission around Thanksgiving & Christmas. She was always ready to help when it was needed.

Her funeral will be at 1 p.m. Monday, March 4, 2013 at Preston-Hanley Funeral Homes & Crematory in Pekin. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Glendale Memorial Gardens in Pekin.

Memorial contributions would be greatly appreciated to Illinois CancerCare Foundation, 8940 North Wood Sage Road, Peoria, IL 61615 for Leukemia Research or to a charity of the donor’s choice, especially if it had to do with Cancer, American Red Cross Blood Drives or the kindness to all animals.

To express condolences online, visit www.preston-hanley.com