Dorothy Parks Leland

Dorothy was born to Edith Butts Parks and Edgar K. Parks on March 9, 1930. She was a straggler born into a family with one sister and three brothers who were graduates of West Point and Annapolis. Dottie died on February 11, 2018, surrounded by her family. Born and raised in Des Moines, IA, Dottie graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in January 1948. She moved to New York to attend Syracuse University as an English major in 1948. Dottie was “fixed” up on a blind date with another English major, Des Moines native, Craig R. Lawrence, Jr., in 1949. They clicked and later that year, Dottie moved back to Iowa to attend the University of Iowa where Craig was a student. The young couple married on August 27, 1949, and the Lawrence Family began! On March 10, 1951, the day after Dottie’s 21st birthday, she gave birth to her first child, a girl they named Deborah. Debbie was followed shortly thereafter by Craig III and Dorothy (Dorrie) in 1952 and 1955. Dottie and Craig Jr. were awfully young when in 1958, they loaded their three little ones into the back of the car and started their journey from Des Moines to Wenatchee, WA, where they had purchased an AM radio station KMEL-1340. This was the first & only rock & roll, Top 40 radio station in Wenatchee for quite some time. Dottie found a brand new life in Wenatchee, where she learned to ski and play golf, which was great since she and Craig Jr. built a house across from the golf course in East Wenatchee. At the time, golfers could just walk across the street from their homes to the seventh hole of the lower nine and start playing. Dottie insisted the family go hiking, fishing, camping, and swimming at Lake Chelan together often. Those were good times for the Lawrence family. In 1968, the entire Lawrence family rejoiced in the birth of a straggler, Thomas E. Lawrence. Tom’s older sibs couldn’t get enough of their new baby brother. Dottie & Craig Jr. had built-in babysitters in Tom’s brother & sisters who were all teenagers. In 1974, Dottie & Craig divorced. Later she married Stanford Leland of Spokane. Dottie started on the last third of her life in Spokane, Washington Dottie had been working hard at KMEL over the years immediately preceding her marriage to Stan. Landing in Spokane gave her a new world to conquer. Dottie, as was her habit, immediately joined St. Stephens Episcopal Church and began her work for God & the church in earnest. Dottie was born into the Episcopal Church and remained an Episcopalian her entire life. She raised her family at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Wenatchee, and later transferring to St. Stephen’s in Spokane. Dottie was the first woman senior warden at St. Stephen’s. She cherished her fellow congregants and leadership at the church. During her tenure there, she chaired the United Thank Offering (UTO) for the Diocese of Spokane; and she was on the national board for the UTO. She also served as Deanery Chair. She was elected VP followed by President of Episcopal Church Women (ECW) for the Diocese of Spokane. She was the ECW rep on the vestry at St. Stephen’s. Dottie was president of the Bishop’s Guild at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane. Dottie kept up her education until the time she died. She completed a four-year class in ministry & received certification. Dottie was a tireless worker for God and the Episcopal Church. Dottie was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers & a sister, her first husband, Craig Lawrence Jr., Stan Leland, and a granddaughter Alice Hale. She is survived by her three children, Deborah Lawrence Hale (George), Dorrie Lawrence Hoisington, Craig R. Lawrence, III (Lori), Tom Lawrence (Kim), eight grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her beloved congregation and leadership of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Dottie will be remembered at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on the South Hill, 5720 S. Perry, Spokane, WA on March 3, 2018, at 1:00 p.m. Join us in thanksgiving for Dottie’s life of love and giving.