Dorothy G. moved into her Tilsley Village apartment on our Kansas Christian Home campus in spring of 2024, bringing with her a rich heritage of family farming and transition.
Her husband’s parents farmed land which Dorothy and husband, Oran, ended up livestock farming (cows/calves/hogs) five miles east of Walton, Kansas.
Having a sister seven years older than her, Dorothy states her sibling became more of a second mother, someone with innate homemaking skills who sadly died at the age of twenty-nine.
Despite moving with her parents to various locations in and out-of-state due to her father’s mill and grain elevator work, Dorothy was back in Newton, Kansas by the age of sixteen where she graduated from high school.
In 1953 Dorothy was introduced to an Army soldier, Oran, on a blind date. Even though Oran fell asleep during the movie they attended, their relationship was established and when Oran was deployed to Germany and traveled to Holland and Russia, they corresponded.
They were married on September 28, 1955 at the First United Methodist Church in Newton.
Dorothy worked outside the home at various local businesses here in Newton while maintaining her primary role as a wife and mother of two sons, Randy and Rodger, who both currently reside with their families in Kansas.
As the years passed Oran’s health was compromised by a diagnosis of cancer requiring numerous trips for care in Wichita and eventually becoming paralyzed; yet, Dorothy was his steadfast and loving caregiver until his end of life in 2007.
These days Dorothy’s life is enriched by grandchildren and great-grandchildren and her developing friendships with other KCH residents, giving her a sense of purpose and pattern.