Dorothy L. Garrison

is honored with a Brick from Judith (Garrison) Hill, Dorothy (Garrison) Newton, Gloria (Garrison) Rump, Nancy (Garrison) Scofield, and Marilyn (Garrison) Spofford.

October 3, 1903 - January 1, 1990

In loving memory:
Dorothy L. Henderson was born to Beuthel and Mary Elizabeth (Mamie) Henderson, October 3, 1903 in Wakarusa Township, the youngest of five girls and a brother. Her father died when she was three days old and her mother raised the six children in true pioneer spirit in their home just north of the Kansas University campus.

Dorothy earned a Teacher Certificate from Emporia Teacher's College and taught grades 1-8 in a one-room schoolhouse in the rural community of Overbrook, just south of Lawrence, in the early 1920s.

She married Homer O. Garrison, a baker in Topeka, Kansas, in 1925 and, after the birth of their first child, they moved to Wichita. Dorothy and Homer were partners for 62 1/2 years until his death on January 12, 1988. Their ten children survive.

Dorothy and Homer raised their children in the First Baptist Church of Wichita. There, as a young mother, she belonged to a sewing circle that evolved into treasured lifelong friendships. Dorothy nurtured her children's cultural interest in music, the arts, and civic responsibilities as 4-H, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, DeMolay, and Rainbow Girls. She had a lifelong interest in education and teaching.

For her instrumental efforts in the implementation of a hot lunch program--years before it was the norm--she received a PTA Lifetime Membership. She served as PTA President. For over 30 years, she was a PTA activist at Riverside and OK Elementary, John Marshall Junior High and North High School. Dorothy was an active member of the Kansas and National Federation of Republican Women, was a Past-President of Kansas Tent 34, Daughter of the Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865 and was a member of the National Club of Parliamentarians.

During WWII, Dorothy learned to be a Tool Crib inspector for the Beech Aircraft Company. She, too, had a home Victory Garden, did home canning, managed the even dozen Ration Coupon Books for necessities, and "made do" for the duration of the war. Dorothy and her husband worked as Republican precinct committee persons for many years, and instilled patriotism in their children at an early age. All the children helped assemble packets of candidate materials, distribute brochures, and be loyal campaigners for local, state and national office seekers. She was awarded a Grand Old Flag from her Congressman and it was always flown for national holidays and events such as a birthday of a family member or home visit of a grown child.

Dorothy and Homer traced genealogy and documented bloodlines for her five daughters to be members of the "Daughter of the Union Veterans of the Civil War 1861-1865." She traced ancestry back to 1700 England and Scotland as her children's inheritance. The Garrisons traveled the Scandinavian countries, with their most memorable trip to the Holy Land. They also traveled in the United States, both by airplane and automobile to see sites of family and national history.

Dorothy gave her all to the love and care of her husband and ten children: daughters Dorothy Newton (Fanning Springs, Florida), Gloria Rump (Mission, Kansas), Marilyn Spofford (Salem, Oregon), Nancy Scofield and Judith Hill (both of Wichita); sons Richard Garrison (Joplin, Missouri), Homer Garrison, Jr. (Shawnee, Kansas), Douglas Garrison (Derby, Kansas), David Garrison, (Littleton, Colorado), and William Garrison (Glenwood Springs, Colorado).

September 14, 1998