Dixie Bott

Dixie Lee Bott, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, passed away on June 18, 2026, at the age of 86 at Heritage Health Care and Rehab in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She was born September 2, 1939, in Lansing, Michigan, to Harold and Thelma DeYoung, and spent the greater part of her life in Columbia, Missouri, where she built a home, a community, and a legacy of warmth that touched everyone she met.

Dixie married the love of her life, Thomas Anthony Bott, on September 8, 1962 — a partnership of more than 63 years and the foundation from which everything else flowed. Though she carried herself with the poise of a runway model, Dixie's truest vocation was always her family. She raised her children, Teresa and Greg, with grace and fierce devotion, and in her seven grandchildren — Nasser, Piper, Noah, Nora, Nicky, Nadia, and Truett — she found a joy that never quieted.

In Columbia, Dixie found many ways to pour into the lives of other women. She worked in print and runway modeling and ran her own modeling agency — not as a business venture, but as a way to open doors for others, helping them learn the craft and discover confidence in themselves. She later channeled that same heart into teaching etiquette to young women at Girls State, believing that confidence and grace are gifts worth passing on.

But Dixie was never simply a woman of polish and appearance. She was, at her core, a woman of people. She was quick with a smile and quicker with a laugh, and she had a way of making those around her feel genuinely seen. She kept a circle of cherished friends who gathered regularly at their local HyVee — a ritual as meaningful to her as any — and she showed up for them the way she showed up for everyone she loved: fully, and without reservation.

She was a "desserts first" person and baked chocolate chip cookies that no one has ever quite matched. She stopped to help turtles cross the highway. She loved tennis. She loved pointing a camera at the people and moments she treasured and then sharing what she captured so others could treasure them too.

Dixie is survived by her husband, Tony Bott; her children, Teresa Bott of Columbia, Missouri, and Greg Bott (Amy) of Tuscaloosa, Alabama; her brother Dan DeYoung (Shelley); and her seven grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her brother, David DeYoung and her parents.

She will be remembered for the way a room felt different when she walked into it — warmer, lighter, more alive. For her laugh, her cookies, her photographs, and her remarkable, unhurried capacity to love.