Dorothy Briggs Teeple, a most loving and beautiful woman, was embraced by her loving God, early in the morning of August 21, 2020. She was at her retirement residence, the Belvoir Woods Health Care Center near Fort Belvoir, Virginia. She was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on March 1, 1923 and was 97 at the time of death. She was the only child of Donald Anthony Briggs and Georgera Collamore.
She graduated from high school and fell in love with Buckner Burriss Teeple, an Army Sergeant, at a USO dance. They were married shortly after the start of World War II on February 14, 1942. He later became an Air Force pilot. She raised their three children, while moving all over the United States and a few territories. In their 70’s they converted to the Roman Catholic Church in Sierra Vista, Arizona. They were married for 67 years until Buckner’s death in 2009.
Dorothy was a smart, loving, and creative woman. She loved many forms of dance to include Greek line dancing. She choreographed and produced shows for the Air Force Wing at Schilling Air Force Base in Kansas. She was a horsewoman who loved her horses. While living at Malmstrom Air Force Base during the winter, she sent her children to school and she twice daily went down to the base riding stable, to care for the horses—even during the brittle Montana winters. Later, the family transitioned to civilian life in California, and she began writing plays. Her play “Set the Good Example,” a comedy about married couples, was produced and played to crowds for six months in Los Gatos, California. She followed this by becoming an author and wrote two novels. One that was a murder mystery and the other about both sides of the civil conflict in Northern Ireland, entitled “The Heart’s Cry for Freedom.” She truly delighted in eating boiled lobster dunked in garlic butter. When she could no longer walk, she loved reading murder mysteries and continued to dress with style and coordinated everything--hair, nails, makeup, jewelry, her clothes and shoes.
Dorothy and Buckner had three children, Donald Teeple, Frances Lynn Bell, and Nikki Lee Adams. Donald was married to Kela, and they had two children, Erin Brae Sadler and Cori Megan Teeple. Donald predeceased Dorothy and Buckner due to brain cancer. Kela later remarried Ray Asfahl and they remain part of the family. Frances married Raymond Bell and had no children together. Both are retired Army officers. Ray’s daughter, Rhonda, married Gregory Roth, and have two adult sons. Nikki Adams, a practicing medical doctor, was the birthmother of twins, Erin Sweeney Smith and Adam Patrick Sweeney. Their parents, Nancy and Patrick Sweeny were present at the birth and lovingly raised them to adulthood.
A family service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in the future, where Dorothy will join Buckner in his final resting place.
Dorothy would love donations go to the Humane Society of Fairfax County, https://hsfc.org/support.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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