Dorothea Usher Staats

Dorothea (Dottie) Usher Staats, age 94, of Valparaiso, Indiana passed away on Thursday, October 24, 2024 at Kingston At Dupont in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Born on July 13, 1930 in Portsmouth, Rhode Island to the late Raymond and Violet Usher.

She graduated high school from Rogers High School, Newport, Rhode Island where she met her husband to be (Richard A. Staats).

Attended University of Rhode Island in Kingston, Rhode Island. She was an active member in the sorority Delta Zeta. She graduated with a major in English and a minor in psychology in 3 1/2 years. She earned: highest honors for each year (4).

Dottie was married June 28th,1952. She is survived by her daughter, Lindy Stacy; her son, Brad (Lin) Staats; her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Dottie was also preceded in death by her husband, Richard; her sister, Ruth; her brother, William; and one grandchild, Rick.

After moving to Valparaiso, Indiana, she became very active in the community. She became a charter member of PEO, Chapter CO where she was a member for over 50 years. She was also in a local sorority that did volunteer work and she became the president of the PTA at Northview Elementary School. She and a friend went to Gary, Indiana and went door to door to sign people up so that they were eligible to vote. She volunteered to man a suicide phone hotline to help people that were in need. At Porter Regional Hospital, for several years, she volunteered to be the buyer for the hospital's gift shop while also volunteering to help with selling the items.

Dottie was an active member at First Presbyterian Church of Valparaiso as both an Elder and a Deacon. Some of her involvement included chairing the celebration of life luncheons, creating religious needlepoint seat covers for the church’s chairs and singing in the choir. She was also the chairman of a very large bazaar, on the board of the preschool and was a longtime volunteer at the resale shop. At Christmas for several years, she hosted a cookie walk at her home for many of the volunteers at the resale shop.

Some of her other joys were reading Shakespeare, playing bridge, entertaining at home, traveling to far away countries to learn about different cultures, and she greatly enjoyed being with family including her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A memorial gathering will be held at a later date.

Memorials may be sent to:

Shriners Children’s Chicago 2211 N. Oak Park Ave. Chicago, IL 60707

Alzheimer’s Association Home Office 225 N. Michigan Ave., Floor 17 Chicago, IL 60601