Dorothy Elizabeth Humphreys

Dorothy was a loving mother and wife and devoted vast amounts of energy and enthusiasm towards her children and grand children creating a magical environment during their formative years that will be remembered and cherished.

Dorothy had a most successful educational career in war time England and graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc(Econ.) in 1948. Dorothy spent two years as a travelling market researcher, followed by twelve months as a librarian at the International African Institute, then an assignment as a research assistant at the American Embassy in London and a brief period of classroom teaching in Southend-on-Sea. Dorothy accompanied her husband to Brazil for his two year assignment with an international commercial bank and later described her stay in Brazil as “the magical years”.

After a two-year stay in England, Dorothy and her husband moved to Washington D.C. in 1963. In Washington Dorothy studied and qualified as a Senior Tutor at the Kingsbury Center specializing in students suffering from dyslexia, at that time a perplexing disability.

Dorothy had a profound memory, read widely and was able to spontaneously reproduce quotations from all Shakespeare’s plays and from a wide range of classic poetry. Dorothy always emphasized to her students that it was not enough to read material; it had to be understood and remembered. It was, therefore, a cruel irony that Dorothy died without a memory. Dorothy was happily married to Norman for 62 years and is survived by Norman, one daughter, two sons, eight grandchildren, and one elder sister in Australia, now 95 years old.

A memorial service will be held on Thursday, October 20 from 1-2 p.m. at Mullins & Thompson Funeral Service, Stafford Chapel.