Dorothy Suman

Dorothy Mida Green Suman passed away peacefully in her sleep on November 24th, 2024. She was 103 years young. She is survived by her daughter Sharon Dodds, son Don Suman, Jr. and daughter-in-law Melissa Suman, grandson Flynn Dodds and wife Sharon, great granddaughter, Stella Dodds, sister-in-law Beverly Green, and nieces and nephews Laura, Chip, Jerry, Kelly, Melinda, Ellen and Mary Ann, and their children

Dorothy was born to Allen and Mida Green on October 3, 1921, in New Orleans, Louisianna. Her family moved to Houston when she was three years old and grew up in the Houston Heights area. After moving to Houston, her parents had two other children, Wilson Green, and Harold Louis Green. Dorothy and her family were long-time Heights’ area residence, with Dorothy attending Reagan High School where she was the Drum Major with the high school band. One of her most favorite memories during high school was her band trip to Mexico City where she and the band met and performed for the Mayor of Mexico City.

After graduating from high school, Dorothy attended Rice University (formerly Rice Institute) where she met the love of her life Don Suman, a varsity football and basketball player. Dorothy was quite beautiful and was named as a Rice Beauty. Don recalled the first time he ever saw her. He said, “I am going to marry that girl” and he did. After returning from the Army Air Corp where he flew P-38s during World War II and after graduation from Rice, Don attended graduate school at Columbia University in New York City working toward his master’s degree. After his stay at Columbia University, he came back to Houston, where he proposed to his sweetheart and the love of his life, Dorothy Green. They were married on February 22,1945 and had a life-long love affair until his death in early 2015. Dorothy and Don bought their West University Place home in 1948 where she lived until her death.

Upon graduation from Rice University, her husband joined the Physical Education Department of Rice University and three years later he became the Rice Assistant Basketball Coach. In 1949, Coach Suman was named Head Basketball Coach, where he remained for ten years. During his tenure as Basketball Coach, he won the Southwest Conference Championship in 1948 as Assistant Coach and 1954 as Head Coach, coached two All-Americans and remains the winningest basketball coach in Rice University history.

1n 1960, after leaving Rice, Don joined Bud Adams and helped organize Houston’s new American Football League professional football team, the Houston Oilers. He stayed with the Oilers for over three years as the Vice President and General Manager of the team. While with the Oilers, they won the first two American Football League championship titles. But he tired of the rugged professional sports regimen and left public life to spend more time with his family and became an Account Executive with John L. Wortham and Son Fire and Casualty Insurance Agency and Vice President of John L. Wortham, Inc., where he remained over 22 years, until his retirement in 1985.

Dorothy and Don enjoyed a full and wonderful 70-year marriage. She was a wonderful wife, great Mom for her two children and the perfect complement to Don’s busy work schedule with Rice, the Houston Oilers, and John L. Wortham & Son. She was a great hostess and loved to help entertain Don’s sports and client associates. Her daughter would recount that some of her most vivid memories were of spending the night with her grandparents while her parents went to dinner at the Shamrock Hilton. She still remembers how beautiful her mother looked all dressed up in her fur and evening clothes and smelling her perfume as she leaned over to kiss her goodnight.

Dorothy still recounts that her grandest moments in life were her marriage to wonderful husband, Don and the birth of her lovely daughter, Sharon Lynn, the birth of her son, Don, Jr., and the day her daughter gave birth to her only grandson, Flynn Suman Dodds. She was a great wife and Mother and remained the matriarch of the family until her death at 103 years of age. Her daughter lives several blocks away in West University Place and her son now lives in Michigan. She talks to her son several times a week, but her greatest joy is visits from her daughter and great granddaughter, Stella, several times a week.

Dorothy was a wonderful daughter, wife, and mother. She lived a full and happy life and will be missed by her family and all who knew her. But now she is where she always wanted to be … with the Lord and reunited with her loving husband and family. May the Lord bless you and give you peace. Please say hello to Dad for us. Sharon and Donny miss both of you so much.

A graveside service for Dorothy will be held Tuesday, December 3, 2024 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Forest Park Westheimer Funeral Home, 12800 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77077.