Dorothy Dawson

Dorothy Person Dawson, 86, died last Thursday in Germantown following a long illness. The family will receive friends Monday, April 25, 2011 from 12:30 – 2:00 at Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens – Poplar Chapel. A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at Memphis Funeral Home with burial in Memorial Park Cemetery.

She was born Dorothy Deen Person in Jackson, TN, also the birthplace of her late husband, William E. Dawson, a World War II veteran and Memphis businessman, who died in 2001.

She is survived by two sons, David Dawson (wife Barbara) of Germantown, and Bill Dawson (wife Glenna) of Houston; four grandchildren, Alec Dawson of Memphis, Rachel Dawson of Memphis, Will Dawson of Houston, and Sarah Ellison (husband John) of Chicago; and one great-grandchild, Aurelia Ellison.

Dorothy Dawson, known also as Dee and Deedy, was a lifelong member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She was a member of Lindenwood Christian Church in the final years of her life and had previously belonged to Memphis' Central Christian Church and Kingsway Christian Church, now in Germantown.

She was a graduate of Memphis State College (now the University of Memphis) in 1946, where her paternal grandfather had been a prominent member of the education faculty and her mother had graduated. She was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu sorority and was a lifelong supporter of the university and enthusiastic fan of its athletic teams.

She came from a family of dedicated public-school educators and was herself a teacher in the Memphis City Schools before starting her own family. She had a great love of language and literature that dated to her early childhood. She was chosen, for example, to be the class poet of her junior high school class in Jackson in 1939.

She deeply loved her family and friends and was particularly fond of activities with her four grandchildren.

She was an avid bridge player, receiving much enjoyment from the company and conversation of her husband and friends. She was a member of the American Contract Bridge League and was proud to achieve the rank of Life Master.

She had a strong and touching appreciation for nature and wildlife. She found special joy and wonder in feeding and observing birds. That was just one example, however, of a keen hunger to experience life that still burned brightly even after her illness made it impossible to participate as fully as she wished in the world around her.

If any friends might want to make donations in her honor, her family suggests that appropriate recipients include Lindenwood Christian Church, the Alzheimer's Association and the National Audubon Society.