Mary Dorothy Hunter

Dorothy was born at Swedish Hospital March 20,1915, to parents, Charles and Hilda Miller. She was the oldest of 3 children - brother Charles and sister Frances.

Dorothy had an older half brother, Lee Youngman, from Hilda's previous marriage.

Dorothy lived her early life and went to elementary and high school in Pateros WA. She rode to school on a horse.

Dorothy had one high school year in Seattle with her uncle and aunt, Roy and Althea Rowse while Dorothy was being treated for a spinal curvature.

Dorothy attended the University of Washington graduating with a BA in Education in 1938. This was during the height of the Depression and Dorothy had to work her way through school while living with her uncle and aunt.

Dorothy began her teaching career at Foster H.S. in 1938. She taught at the high school level in the business and office practices department. Later she taught for several years at Enumclaw H.S. and that's when Dorothy met C. Gordon Hunter.

The first meeting with Gordon was on a blind date. Gordon's Navy friend had fixed Gordon up on a double-date in the summer 1941. Dorothy and Gordon dated after that meeting.

Gordon had joined the Navy in 1939 and was then serving in the Navy stateside.

The Rowse family had a picnic at Icicle Creek later that summer in 1941 and Uncle Roy piped up and told Gordon "he was getting one heck of a great gal."

Mom was mortified because she and Gordon had gone out on only a couple of dates and NOTHING was set at that point.

They were engaged in the fall of 1941, planning to get married in June 1942 at the end of the school year because of Dorothy's teaching contract. After Pearl Harbor (December, 1941), they moved up the wedding date and got married in January 1942.

At this time married women were not allowed to continue teaching. Therefore, the school district canceled her contract immediately when she married. However they had a special administrative meeting and made an exception due to the war. So Dorothy was allowed to continue teaching until June 1942.

Dorothy and Gordon lived near the Sandpoint Naval Air Station where Gordon was stationed. Dianne was born in April 1943. Gordon was sent to the Pacific Theater later in 1943 and Dorothy and Dianne moved to Pateros with "Grandma Miller" for the duration of the war. Dorothy taught at Pateros High School. Gordon returned from the Pacific and the family moved to the View Ridge area of Seattle. Gordy was born in May 1948. The family moved to Yakima in 1950 and lived there till 1953.

In those years, Dorothy was a stay-at-horne mom. In 1953 the family moved back to Seattle, the Queen Anne Hill area. Dorothy started teaching again, this time at the kindergarten level. After several years teaching kindergarten, Dorothy went back to the high school level and taught office and business practices at Franklin H.S. She continued teaching until her retirement in 1977 at the age of 62. After several years of living on Queen Anne Hill, the family moved to the Ravenna District in 1961. With the children out of school and away from home, in 1974 they moved to Ballard and a house with a view of the water and mountains, a long held dream of Dorothy's. Her younger brother Charles' early death at age 56 (in 1973) prompted Mom to realize that life can be short. One needs to act on one's dreams and not wait.

Between 1977 and 1989, with both Dorothy and Gordon retired, they enjoyed several exciting trips to Thailand, Egypt, Vietnam, and Europe. They both were active in many organizations (Dorothy's are listed below). Gordon died in 1989 at age 79. They had been married almost 48 years.

The family expanded in 1970 with the marriage of Gordy to Suzanne Witkin of Chicago, IL. In 1974 Dianne married Kindel McNeiil of Fort Worth, TX. Dorothy was later proud to become a grandmother with the addition of two wonderful grandchildren, Ted in 1974 and Gary in 1977 born to Gordy and Suzanne. Of equal pride to Dorothy was to be alive to see the birth of 3 great¬grandchildren, Chana, Aaron and Avi, to the Ted & Dana Hunter family.

Her great love, besides her family, was her garden and flowers. She could make anything grow. Whether her outside space was a large yard or a small patio, she enjoyed planting and seeing things grow. She had won many awards in garden club competitions.

Dorothy died peacefully in the comfort of her home after a debilitating 5-year battle with an auto-immune disease.

Dianne and Kindel, Gordy and Suzanne, want to acknowledge and give a special thanks to her two wonderful caregivers, Julie McAndrew and Daniela Mihali, who added great quality to her last years.

Club and Societies of M Dorothy Hunter

Member, Pi Lambda Theta, International Honor Society in Education

Member, United Methodist Church

Member, United Methodist Women

Active Member, University of Washington Alumni Association

Member, WEA: Washington Education Association

Member of the Golden View Garden Club

Volunteer at Friends of the El Rey (Community Psychiatric Clinic)