Dorothy Lane Douglas

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1923, to Molly Elizabeth Tipton and Ernest Edward Dew, Dottie attended the University of Arkansas and graduated from the University of Tennessee where she met the love of her life, Bill Lane, and where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. During almost fifty-eight years of her life in Houston, she was a member of The Church of St. John the Divine, River Oaks Garden Club, Daughters of the American Revolution, River Oaks Country Club, Houston Country Club and Rice University Associates. She founded the William H. Lane Neurological Fund at Methodist Hospital and also refurbished the Carla Garden at Bayou Bend in memory of her late husband, William H. Lane.

She was pre-deceased by her husband, William H. Lane, who was President and Chief Executive Officer of Riviana Foods, Inc., a Trustee of Rice University, a Director of Texas Commerce Bank, a Director of the Texas Heart Institute and the Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club; by her daughter, Peggy Lane Bernard Taegel; and by her second husband, Stuart T. Douglas, who was formerly an executive at IBM.

Affectionately known as Dott, she is survived by her sons, William H. Lane, Jr. of Navasota, Texas and Timothy D. Lane of Houston, Texas and his wife, Elizabeth O. Lane and their daughters, Grace and Claire; and her other grandchildren, Emily Bernard and William Bernard and his wife, Helen, and her nephews, Richard A. Lane and his wife, Chris, and their sons, and Michael Lane and his wife, Hui, and their daughter of Houston, Texas; her niece, Jean Redwine and her husband, Albert, and their daughters of Maryville, Tennessee; and her cousins, Samuel Tinsley and his wife, Emily and their daughters of Knoxville, Tennessee.

The family would like to honor and thank Sonia Cruz for her many years of loving care for their mother as well as Zahra Andrew and Denise Pouokam, her long-term caregivers, and the wonderful people at Houston Hospice.

A memorial service is to be conducted at three o’clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, the 30th of March, at the Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Boulevard. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception that is to be announced during the service.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family suggests contributions to Bayou Bend Gardens Endowment, P.O. Box 6826, Houston, TX 77265; William H. Lane Neurological Fund at Methodist Hospital, P.O. Box 4384, Houston, TX 77210; Texas Heart Institute, P.O. Box 20345, Houston, TX 77225; Houston Hospice, 1905 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030; or to your favorite charity.