Dorothy Barfield Seay was born on May 26, 1925, and died on October 9, 2020. She was the only child of Lillian and Luke Barfield who resided near Paris, TN. After graduating from Austin Peay State University, she began her teaching career. In 1947 she married Louis M. Seay, Jr. Shortly afterward, they came to the Pacific Northwest to live. In the following years, Dorothy taught school in Oregon, California, and Washington. In 1980, she retired after teaching in Seattle Public Schools. Her husband, Louis, died in 1993 after 46 years of marriage. Since then, she has lived in the Seay family home in Seattle, and more recently with her son and family in Portland.
Dorothy had many interests and kept busy. At times she shared her home with college students from Seattle Pacific University who were majoring in education. Dorothy liked gardening, politics, her church, and keeping in touch via email with family and friends. Some of them knew her as “Polka Dot.”
Dorothy is survived by her son, Robert, her granddaughter, Laura, and her daughter-in-law Linda. She will be greatly missed as a mom and grandmother.
Dorothy will be laid to rest in the family plot in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery on Queen Anne Hill. Family graveside services and a memorial celebration of her life are planned to be held in August of 2021. For more information, an online guest book is available at butterworthfuneralhome.com
In lieu of flowers, donations could be made to Medic One Foundation or Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute.
