Dee was born Jan 17th, 1931. Her given name was Delores Jean Cushman. She was born in Bloomington to very young parents, Olive and Vincent Cushman. They lived with Vincent’s parents and his three brothers. They moved from the Welsh Community of Rewey, Wisconsin after a house fire. They were grocers, which was helpful during the Depression. Her mother Olive played piano for the Christian Church where they worshipped. They eventually got their own house. When Delores was 10 yrs. old, her sister Sherry was born. They moved to different houses and finally settled in the house attached to the Miller Park Store, north of the zoo. By this time Delores was 20 years old and a student at ISNU.
Her second sister Judy was born to Olive and Vincent. When Delores was 14, she contracted Polio. The prescribed therapy was swimming. As a student at ISNU, her extracurricular work was diving.
Coach Pop Horton was impressed with her diving skills. She helped celebrate the opening of numerous public pools in Bloomington. In the summer, she interned at a summer camp for disabled children at Lake
Bloomington.
She met Frank Volle through college friends. They eloped in 1953. They honeymooned in New York City. Frank and Delores moved to Washington State where he received his Masters in Psychology. From there, they moved to Denver where he earned his Ph. D in Clinical Psychology. He co-founded the Denver Mental Health Center. Delores was working there part-time administering tests to his client children.
Their daughter, Susan was born in Denver, in 1963.
Delores maintained a special friendship that began in her college days. Her best friend of many years was Liesha Stein. From Liesha, she learned about Jewish culture. She also learned how to make awesome Jewish Rye bread. The Jewish teaching carried over to Susan’s upbringing where she
spent her extracurricular time at the Jewish Community Center and
Summer Camp.
Delores and Frank did not attend worship services. They lived in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood in Denver. Susan attended weekly Catholic Mass with her friends and future Godparents, next door.
Frank and Delores had friends and colleagues in the Psychology world. They hosted an annual sing-a-long party with their friends and colleagues from Univ. of Denver. They hosted Thanksgiving dinner every year with friends from University Hospital . Delores made her famous oyster stuffing.
Delores was a generous person, in Denver. When Susan brought her friend Charlie to her because he had no shoes, Delores bought him a pair of shoes. When Susan’s Nana could no longer eat because of dental problems, Delores arranged and paid for her to have dentures. She did
many other things for friends and neighbors.
In 1977, the family moved back to Normal. Frank had authored a couple of books and became a faculty member at ISU. Susan attended U-High. After Susan graduated in 1981, she returned to Denver to be with her
Godparents and attend college. During this time, another important woman came into Delores’s life. A
former professor from ISNU, Ana Keaton. She became part of the family.
Frank and Delores divorced in the 80’s. Delores moved into Ana’s house
on Hovey and adopted the name “Dee”. Dee and Ana only had a few years
together when Ana had a stroke Dee insisted on bringing her home so
she could take care of her. Ana died at home. Dee inherited the house.
Ana introduced Dee to volunteering at United Methodist Church where Ana was a member. Dee loved to volunteer “anywhere and everywhere”. She was a member of Friends of the Library at Milner and countless other organizations.
Art and music were very important to Dee. Not many people saw the inside of her house which was full of art. She had an eclectic taste for music. She listened to anything from classical music to opera. As a young mother she played Spanish guitar and piano.
She always believed Thank You notes were important. She started taking clippings out of them paper and sending them to those who were mentioned. It was a charming gesture which was appreciated by many. Letters to friends had become her primary connection to the outside world.
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