Alice Negley Dorn

Lisa was born to Alfred and Nancy Negley, the granddaughter of George and Alice Brown of Houston and William and Roxana Negley of San Antonio.

Lisa attended Saint Mary’s Hall in San Antonio and graduated from the University of Texas. Her college sweetheart, John Dorn, was the love of her life and recently celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary.

Lisa’s life stretched from her native Texas to Jackson, Mississippi to Denver, Colorado, touching many lives and contributing much along the way. She started Whittlesey Pratt, an antique business in Denver and was involved in a number of non-profit organizations. A few of these include the Art Museum of South Texas, the Flower Council for the Denver Art Museum, the Leaky Foundation and the Brown Foundation. While those efforts were important to Lisa, her greatest passion was her love of friends and family.

Artist, patron, friend, wife and devoted mother and grandmother, Lisa was a fighter and her irrepressible spirit brought joy to everyone who knew her. Lisa was magnetic and embracing; always creating a place where people wanted to be. She delighted in Ray Charles, dancing and hosting parties for friends and family. She loved flowers, chicken curry and chocolate (though not together), and especially a good laugh, even as she gamely struggled with health issues in the last decade of her life. She cherished walking on the beach, sitting on the back deck watching quaking Aspens in Colorado and strolling the Texas Hill Country. Her extraordinary eye for design brought warmth to her homes and endeavors. Her trademark sly smile brimmed with equal parts love and mischief. Her wit was sharp and oh-so funny it might sting a little but we always came back for more. You may not have known her, but she sure made your life brighter if you did.

Lisa is survived by her husband John Dorn; three children, Fairfax Dorn and her husband Marc Glimcher, Nancy Walker and her husband George, and Holbrook Dorn and his wife Kate; eight grandchildren, Rufus Walker, Fairfax Walker, Hutch Walker, Otis Walker, Josephine Dorn, Miles Dorn, Brook Dorn and Gage Glimcher; mother, Nancy Negley; and two siblings, Leslie Negley and Walter Negley.

The family will gather for an inurnment at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston. A celebration of Lisa’s life will be announced in the months ahead.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with gratitude that memorial contributions be directed in the form desired by friends. The family has also designated The Texas Heart Institute, 6770 Bertner Ave, Houston, TX, 77030, (or see link below) for memorial contributions.

“Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art.” – Keats