GENEVA, Illinois – Dorothy M. Morgan Ramsay passed away in her sleep early morning June 5 at Arden Courts, Geneva, Illinois where she had resided since 2002.
Dorothy was born June 26, 1919 in Granite City, Illinois, and was the only child of John Morgan and Alice Hyde. She attended the University of Illinois (1936-40), where she graduated Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in English. She taught in the primary and secondary schools of Granite City for the next 21 years and in 1948 received a MA in English from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. In 1961 she moved with her mother to Westchester, Illinois and taught English at West Proviso High School and was the girl’s counselor there.
In 1965 she became Dean of Women at Lyons Township Junior College, LaGrange, which later merged with the College of DuPage. A knowledgeable teacher and compassionate counselor, she was beloved by many students. Friends were very important to Dorothy, especially her lifelong friends, Cynthia Killoran and Ruth Schmitt. During her childhood and throughout her life Dorothy was very close to her cousin Vivian LaMott, who like herself was an only child.
She met retired Army Colonel Joseph Ramsay in 1974 at the Oasis Center in Chicago. They married in 1976, settled in LaGrange, Illinois and traveled extensively around the globe. In 1990 they moved to Troy, Alabama, where she lived until 2002.
Like her husband Dottie loved travel, enjoyed reading, genealogy, and their dogs. Known for her sharp mind and keen wit, she enjoyed bridge and scrabble. In Alabama they were active in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Montgomery.
She is preceded in death by her husband who died in 1997 in Troy. She is survived by her stepsons David Ramsay of South Berwick, Maine, Kurt Ramsay of Palatine, Illinois, stepdaughter Mary England of Denver, Colorado, cousin Vivian LaMott of Orange City, Florida, cousin Dorothy Bolton, Treorchy, Wales, and cousin Muriel Stern, Goleta, California.
There will be a memorial service at Arden Courts, Geneva, Illinois at 11 a.m. Friday, June 12, 2009. A short graveside service will be held at Sunset Hills Cemetery, 2900 St. Rt. 157, Edwardsville, Illinois on Saturday, June 13 at 11 a.m.