Dorothea Sonja Brinson

She was born May 29, 1930 in Boston, Massachusetts, daughter of Frank and Eva Ranstrom. As a child, she was a member of the Salvation Army Boston Citadel Church. She learned music from the Salvation Army, including the piano and trombone. She became an accomplished trombonist, and was a member of the Boston Junior Symphony. She attended “All Girls High” in Boston, and graduated in 1948 as the Valedictorian of her class. She married Harold Brinson Sr., and they enrolled in the Salvation Army School for Officers Training in Atlanta, Georgia.

They were commissioned as Salvation Army Officers in June of 1952. They rose to the rank of Major over their 22 year career. Their final church with the Salvation Army was Cambridge Citadel, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This church had a 40 piece brass band called the Cambridge Silver Sound. Dottie earned her Associate’s degree from William and Mary University in Williamsburg, Virginia, her Bachelor’s degree in English from Cameron State University in Lawton, Oklahoma, and her Master’s degree in English from Georgia Southwestern in Americus, Georgia.

Harold and Dottie left the Salvation Army in 1976, and Harold became a Methodist Minister in the South Georgia Conference, and Dottie fulfilled her lifelong ambition and became a teacher. Dottie conducted the testing for the gifted program in the educational system of Georgia, and taught English for the gifted for 18 ½ years before retiring. Since 1999, Dottie was an assistant to retired Judge Clinton O. Pearson in his legal practice, and Dottie sincerely cherished his friendship.

Dottie was preceded in death by her first husband – Rev. Harold Brinson – her second husband – Phillip Wyatt, and daughter Tammie Eve Brinson. She is survived by her children: Harold Brinson Jr. of Savannah, daughter Patsy McKenzie of Columbus, son and daughter in law Jack and June Brinson of Brunswick, 10 grandchildren – locally Jack Brinson II of Coolidge Ga., and Jill Brinson Gregory (Brandon) of Brunswick, and 12 great grandchildren.

Visitation will be held Monday from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Edo Miller Funeral Home. The funeral service will be held Tuesday morning at 10:00 am with the

Reverend Jim McIlrath officiating. She will be buried in the family plot at Harmony Cemetery in Richland, Georgia.

Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of all arrangements. www.edomillerandsons.com