Dorothy Louise Witt (Brittain)

On Friday, July 20, 2012, God peacefully and gently brought “Dottie” home. In recent years, she frequently spoke of longing to see the face of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and be reunited with her beloved husband, “Sandy” Delbert Wayne Witt who had passed over before her on October 10, 2000.

Dorothy was born on September 2, 1925, the second child of six, to Gradon E. Brittain and Rita Violet (Brown) Brittain in Sedan, Kansas. She is survived by her youngest sibling, James J. Brittain (St. Louis, MO); a host of nieces and nephews; her children, Constance (Connie) L. Witt (Ypsilanti, MI), Linda S. Witt (Windsor, CO), Scott T. Witt (Irving, TX); granddaughters Crystal (Eddie) Rahman (Irving, TX), Christina (Joel) Reboh (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), Brandie (Aaron) King, Mandie Massey; grandson Tony (Alicia) Saucedo; and 7 great-grandchildren Alexandra Cooksey, Cade King, Colby Cooksey, Tristan Saucedo, Addie King, Gaira Reboh, and Laynie King.

Dot, grew up on a farm outside of Sedan, KS and graduated from Sedan High School in 1944. She played flute and clarinet in junior and senior high school, but she preferred cheerleading and doing the Jitterbug with high school sweetheart and football quarterback Sandy Witt, who was the best dancer in the entire area. Acknowledging her skills in creative design and as a seamstress, her senior class prophecy speculated that Dorothy would become a famous clothing designer in New York City. After high school, she worked as a “tool girl” for the Boeing Aircraft Company, wearing pretty dresses of her own design. Dorothy preferred these “uniforms” to the overalls worn by the“Rosie the Riveters” who came to her storage room to check out tools. In 1945, Boeing tested its “girls” for engineering aptitude. The best were sent to the University of Kansas to study drafting and aeronautical engineering. Dottie excelled, but when the war ended, the program was abruptly cancelled. She returned to Sedan to welcome her fiancé home from the Navy. They were married on July 27, 1946, a few weeks after his return.

Through their early child-rearing years in Wichita, KS, Dorothy made tight budgets stretch by sewing virtually all of the family’s clothing, including coats; canning fruits and vegetables for weeks on end during the summer; and “pinching every penny three times,” which she developed into a fine art. Not even the catsup bottle escaped her pantry-stretching schemes, as it faded from red to pink with frequent additions of small amounts of water. Her children fondly remember her delicious canned peaches, homemade grape jelly, and amazing green tomato sweet pickles. Dorothy never enjoyed daily cooking, but reveled in arranging beautiful fruit trays, carving vegetable garnishes, and creating specialty birthday cakes. Favorites included a cake she baked in a bowl that became the fancy ball gown for a doll cake; a “Swiss Cherry Torte cake;” and an amazing carousel that first appeared in her repertoire for Scott’s 2nd birthday.

In 1960, the family began spending summers in Howard, Colorado where Dorothy gamely supported her husband’s dream of building, then running, a resort. The family ran the Bar W Resort through 1969, when they moved to Colorado permanently. During this phase of Dorothy’s life she demonstrated previously unrecognized business acumen and became a successful Sears Order Store manager in Salida, CO by focusing on customer support. For the last 15 years of her work-life, she and Sandy managed apartment complexes in Denver and Colorado Springs for Great West Management and Realty, Inc. There she demonstrated a natural ability to lead and train leaders. Many of the assistant managers she trained were promoted to manage other Great West complexes.

Dorothy and Sandy retired to a family cabin in Howard, Co. in 1991, after a celebratory trip that fulfilled Dot’s life-long dream of visiting Hawaii. Their life on the mountain included an active church life, neighborhood pot luck meals, and community service that included the volunteer firefighters, and Dot’s project to sew quilts for the homeless. After Sandy’s death in 2000, Dorothy continued to live “on the mountain” an additional five years with the dedicated help of neighbors and her church community at Mountain Valley. She moved to Michigan to live with her daughter, Connie in 2006, but missing the mountains and her independence, she returned to Colorado less than a year later, where daughter, Linda, lovingly supported her “independence”.

At the time of death, she resided at Bonell Good Samaritan Center Nursing Home in Greeley, CO. The family would like to thank the Bonell staff for their excellent care, loving attention and reliable patience. You are amazing and we will always be grateful.