Dorothy M Dent

COLUMBIA - Mrs. Dorothy McCalman Dent died Sunday, November 23, 2014, at Forest Pines Senior Living Center in Columbia, SC, following an illness. Mrs. Dent was born in Vinemont, Alabama on July 30, 1927. She attended elementary school in Atlanta, GA. She attended Meminger High School and graduated from Andrew B. Murray Vocational School in Charleston, SC. After graduation, she was employed as Secretary to the Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston. It was during this time that she met her husband of twenty years, Dr. E. DuBose Dent, Jr. After living in Philadelphia, PA, Baltimore, MD, and Norfolk, VA, she and Dr. Dent returned to his home town of Columbia in 1956. Mrs. Dent came to love Columbia, and was proud to call it her home for the rest of her life. Mrs. Dent was pre-deceased by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. William H. McCalman of Charleston, and a first cousin who was her childhood playmate and long time friend, Dr. Millard L. Dunkin. She is survived by her son, Christopher Bruce Dent of Columbia; her daughter, Pamela Dent Evans of Myrtle Beach; her grandchildren, Charles E. Evans, Kristin E. Altman, Alison E. Capp, and Kelly E. Pysmennyi; and her two great-grandchildren, Knox Theron Capp and Zoey Diane Altman, all of Myrtle Beach. Mrs. Dent was very proud of her heritage, and enjoyed spending hours researching and tracing her ancestry back to Virginia, England and Scotland. She was an avid reader who especially enjoyed books about the Tudor period in England, American history, and other historical novels and an occasional mystery. She was also a football fan of the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Crimson Tide of her home state of Alabama. She believed strongly in helping those less fortunate than herself, and gave generously to several charities. Mrs. Dent’s greatest joy in life was her family. She was a devoted daughter and wife. As a parent and grandparent, she instilled a strong sense of right and wrong, combined with generosity, along with a deep interest in history, literacy, and curiosity about the world. Mrs. Dent was a long time member of Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Columbia, where a memorial service will be held on Tuesday, December 2, 2014.