Dora L Ellington

Dora was born on October 10, 1935 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas as Dora Lucille Rounds. She spent her childhood and teen years growing up in San Francisco, California “roaming the streets” and playing with her twin sister, Doris, and her younger sister, Ann. She had an older brother, James, but he was a teen and adult serving in WW2 during her formative years. She attended Girls High School and George Washington High School. In high school, Dora played basketball, worked in the school cafeteria, skipped a grade due to her academic abilities, and was selected by her school as an ambassador or visit the one of the seven famed “Underground Railroad” museum out of state. Despite these roles, she described herself as so shy that when she had to present a short speech about her experience visiting the Underground Railroad to the student body, she took off her glasses so she couldn’t see the audience.

She was the neighbor and school classmate of the singer Johnny Mathis (who she turned away at basement house party because he didn’t know the password) and briefly dated the future mayor of San Francisco, Willie Davis. She attended junior college in San Francisco, belonged to the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and was the chapter president.

As a young adult, she and her family moved to Los Angeles, California where she attended California State University while working as a full time secretary with the US Corps of Engineers. It was there she met her husband, Donald Ellington, a structural engineer. He courted her by giving her biographical information of himself for her to type with the last entry asking her out on a date. They married in 1955 and five years later had one daughter, Brenda.

Dora became a widow in 1963 and dedicated her life to raising daughter, Brenda, as a single parent and her career as an educator. She would always tell her daughter that she felt she had to be both mother and father to her. To carry out her pledge to her daughter, she completed her Bachelor’s degrees in education and became an elementary school teacher and later finished her Masters Degree in Library Science from the University of Southern California. She used this degree to take on extra work as a librarian and become the school librarian at 116th Street school in Los Angeles. Throughout the years, she worked to ensure Brenda had the best education possible by working 2 or 3 jobs. Her hard work paid off, as her daughter received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University and a PhD from Northwestern University. This was quite the accomplishment for a single mother.

In addition to raising her daughter, Dora was a devoted daughter herself. She was the primary caregiver for her foster mother, Beatrice Cates, and her father, James Rounds in their later years.

Professionally, Dora’s favorite job was being a kindergarten teacher before she retired. After nearly 30 years in education, she moved to the Chicago area to be closer to her daughter and son-in-law. Initially, she volunteered for a child care center in Wilmette, Illinois until she held her most treasured role of becoming the loving grandmother of her only grandchild, Jonathan Justin Booth. She loved spending time with him, especially in his early years. She would play and sing to him as an infant and toddler. She was his only sitter Jonathan had throughout his school age years. He was the joy of her life, just by being his fun loving self.

Her late husband described Dora as having a “quiet beauty.” This was the perfect description of her. She was soft-spoken and had a patient, gentle nature. Her beauty was her quiet dedication, compassion, and love for her family. She will be dearly missed by her daughter, Brenda Ellington Booth, son-in-law, Jonathan M. Booth, her beloved grandson, Jonathan Justin Booth, her twin sister, Doris Bigham, her sister-in-law, Helen Collier, and numerous extended family members from Rounds, Ellington, and Booth families.

Visitation Thursday, October 2, 10am until 12pm at Wm. H. Scott Funeral Home, 1100 Greenleaf Ave, Wilmette, IL 60091. Funeral service 12pm at Wm. H. Scott Funeral Home, and the service will be livestreamed. Burial to take place at Memorial Park Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to my mother’s favorite charity. Boys Town (www.boystown.org) - an organization that supports young people with mental health challenges.