Dorothy Shields

Dorothy Shields (Bates), 80, went to be with her heavenly family on Feb 3, 2013. She was retired from Santa Fe Railroad and Steffens Dairy. She was born to Frank and Gertrude Bates on August 8, 1932 in Alton, Ks. The young years of her life were spent on a farm with her parents and 3 sisters. When the depression came and the dust storms had ruined the land, the family had to leave the farm and move to Wichita, Ks., where they made their home. She went to East High School, then to college. She did some traveling with her sister, Joan. They loved driving to Las Vegas in her beautiful rag top red Chevy. On one of the vacations, she met her favorite star, Clint Walker. They had dinner with him and Dorothy was star struck. Needless to say she idolized him. She even told him she would marry him if he hadn’t been already married with a family. She often joked about it. She loved to play the accordion and was quite good, sometimes playing duets with her sister Joan on the xylophone. Years later she met her real soul mate, Thomas E. Shields and after a short courtship they were married and had many years of bliss until his death from cancer in 1992. Dorothy loved to be with family members during birthday celebrations, Christmas time, etc. Her and her husband Tom loved to travel around the country during vacation time. When a new addition was added to her sister’s house, Dottie showed how she could swing a hammer and do other carpentry work with the best of them. She suffered from dementia that eventually turned into Alzheimer’s. She went into a nursing home where she was taken care of by the best staff of any home. She was very strong and loved to walk around the hallways and visit with the other patients. She participated in all the activities at the home until she could no longer walk and then did what she could from a wheelchair. She was loved by all that knew her and will be missed. She is preceded in death by her husband, Tom Shields; parents, Frank and Gertrude Bates; and sisters, Lila Littlejohn/Minard and Barbara Gurney. She is survived by her sister, Joan (Robert) Sims; nephew, Gene (Jenny) Littlejohn; nieces, Theresa (Gary) Barrick, Cheryl (Wendell) Lillich and other nieces and nephews; step-son, Tommy and step-daughter, Laura. Visitation 6-8pm, Wednesday, February 6, 2013 and funeral 1pm, Thursday, February 7, 2013, both at DeVorss Flanagan-Hunt Mortuary, Wichita, Ks. Interment will be held following the service at Lincolnville, Kansas Cemetery. Condolences may be offered at www.devorssflanaganhunt.com