Dorothy Jean Barton

Dorothy Barton, age 100, died June 19 at the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House. Dorothy was born to Bessie and Stephen Willitt in Lyons, Michigan on March 27, 1918. She was born at the home of her grandmother during the Great Flu Pandemic rather than risk infection in a hospital in Flint, Michigan where her parents lived. After high school, she borrowed $100 from her grandmother to attend nursing school at Mercy School of Nursing at St. Lawrence Hospital in Lansing, Michigan. Later she returned to college and earned a B.A. in Behavioral Science.

Dorothy was insatiably curious. She was an avid reader and ruthless Scrabble player and mourned her loss of sight, which made it difficult to enjoy her favorite pastimes. She enjoyed word games, anthropology, archaeology, history, and genealogy. Even at 100, when she could neither see nor hear well, she would ask her daughter and her caregivers to 'Google' answers to her many questions.

She married Paul Barton in December 1941. They were married 63 years until his death in 2004. They lived in Durand, Michigan until they relocated in 2002 to Davenport, Iowa to be closer to their daughter.

Those left to remember her include her daughter, Paula Luttenton, of Sand Lake, Michigan; daughter, Marilyn, and son-in-law, John Rodgers, of Davenport, Iowa; five grandchildren; and eleven great grandchildren.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House: 2546 Tech Dr., Bettendorf, Iowa, 52722. The family wishes to thank the staff at Clarissa Cook for their loving, gentle care.

Condolences and memories may be shared at the Cunnick-Collins Mortuary website: http://www.cunnick-collins.com/.