Karen Ilene Dorsey

A graveside service for Karen will be held Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at 10:00 AM at Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Drive, Arlington, VA 22211.Attendees will enter the main gate and must be in line in their car forty- five minutes before the service begins. Attendees need to show a REAL ID driver’s license or passport for entrance.

A Celebration of Life will follow the graveside service at the Demaine Funeral Home at 5308 Backlick Rd Springfield, VA 22151. Memorial Contributions can be made to The Humane Society of Fairfax County 4057 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA 22030 703-385-PETS

Karen is remembered as more than a neighbor, friend, nurse, cat rescuer, and Lorton prison guard. Her love and care for Mac were extraordinary. She embraced every person she met and left an impression on each one. Everyone was her friend. Karen was well known for randomly dropping off little gifts. She would volunteer to help anytime and anyway possible. Her hats were her trademark and she was always easy to locate in a crowd. Not only did she feed stray cats but also provided them warmth and medical care when necessary. Her love of animals included cats, dogs, squirrels, raccoons, deer, mice, etc.

Karen will truly be missed.

A graveside service for Karen will be held Tuesday, July 29, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Drive, Arlington, VA 22211.

Karen Ilene Dorsey, age 77, of Woodbridge, Virginia, passed away on Monday, May 12, 2025. Karen Ilene Dorsey (nee Crisp) was born in Pittsburg, KS.

A graveside service for Karen to reunite her with her late husband, COL Mercer M. “Mac” Dorsey, Jr., will be held Tuesday, July 29, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington National Cemetery Administrative Office, 200 King Drive, Fort Myer, VA 22211. Please arrive NLT: 09:15 AM.

Karen was a strong, individualistic woman and was famous for having a lot of cats (5-8 at a time). She was always comical, outspoken, and active, full of humor, kindness, and a love for all animals, great and small.

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In 1975, while working as a registered nurse in Kansas City, MO, she met the love of her life, Major Mercer M. “Mac” Dorsey, Jr. They were married in Leavenworth on 22 May 1976.

Karen and Mac’s follow-on assignment from Fort Leavenworth was to the 10th Special Forces Group, Airborne (SFGA), Ft Devens, MA, from July 1976 to October 1979. Karen was always comical, adopted a slew of cats and many 10th Group bachelors for holiday dinners and was well known to the Fort Devens community for roller skating up the stairs of 10th Group HQ in an Easter Bunny suit, and because Karen was rumored to drive like “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena”. In their off time, Karen, always an active soul, became a good downhill skier. She and Mac enjoyed their time off by going skiing all over New England and out west.

Following Mac’s career, Karen and Mac moved to the Greater Washington, D.C. area from 1979 to 1986, although Mac had an unaccompanied tour to Germany from March 1984 to August 1986 while Karen stayed Stateside.

When Mac returned Stateside, he was promoted to Colonel, and they moved to the Fort Bragg, NC area where Mac was assigned, in turn, to the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, 1st SOCOM, and then back t as Deputy Commandant, John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Mac retired from the Army on 1 January 1994 after having served the Nation for thirty years.

Immediately after Mac’s military retirement, Karen and Mac moved back to Northern Virginia, where Mac became the Chief of Security, United Nations Protection Forces (UNPROFOR), Former Republics of Yugoslavia. However, in September 1995, while riding in a Russian aircraft over Sarajevo, Mac was shot in the thigh by a ground-fired 51-caliber round and gravely wounded. Mac was MEDEVACED to Landstuhl General Hospital, and then back to Walter Reed for 8 months of recovery. Karen was by his side daily at Walter Reed through it all.

Following his recovery, Mac then worked as a Defense and Intelligence contractor and consultant for several firms from late 1995 until he finally retired in 2014, and they moved to Woodbridge, VA

In their retirement, Karen and Mac were always active in the events of Special Forces Association Chapter XI, attending annual pool parties, Oktoberfests, Christmas Parties, and SFA Dinner Dances.

COL Mercer “Mac” Dorsey. Jr. fell sick and was hospitalized at INOVA Fairfax in March 2023. Mac passed on 7 June 2023. Karen was by his side for the entire time. She never stopped being Mac’s nurse and loving wife.

Karen was always a delight to be around, and she had a hat for every occasion, whether it be a pool party, Oktoberfest, or the SF Regimental Birthday Ball.

Additionally, Karen and Mac were always feeding the deer and other animals around their home in Woodbridge, even after Mac passed in 2023, Karen kept up the nighttime vigil they had maintained through the years.

Karen will be missed because she was a strong, individualistic woman and a magnificent army wife supporting Mac in all his responsibilities and helping the other wives when the guys were deployed on various exercises overseas.

Karen was predeceased by her husband and love of her life of 47 years, Mac.

Instead of flowers, please donate “IMO Mrs. Karen Dorsey” to: The Grace Card Rescue; 14000 Flagtree Pl / Manassas, VA 20112; 703-477-4497; https://thegracecardrescue.com/.

A Celebration of Life will follow the graveside service at the Demaine Funeral Home at 5308 Backlick Rd Springfield, VA 22151.