Better than a shoot-out
The paid obituaries in the Democrat-Gazette sometimes dispense with the traditional obsequies in favor of plain talk. For those who don't subscribe, a remembrance of a Levy gal:
COLORADO SPRINGS - Dorothy Viola Southern, formerly of North Little Rock, passed away in Colorado Springs on July 9, 2009. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Angela Hill and son, Ronald Whitley, and survived by her children, Steven Grant of Colorado Springs, Linda Novak of Nashville and Pam Boyd of Dallas who are glad that she died peacefully and not in a shoot-out. Undoubtedly, she was quite a character, feisty, passionate, out-spoken and known for many shenanigans in her 83 years. In spite of her nine marriages and mostly turbulent life, Mom was a dedicated and conscientious mother to her five children.
Born in Levy to Sylvia and Chester Thorn on February 11, 1926, she married at the age of 13, had two children by the age of 16, was a jack of all trades, and lived in 12 states before she died. She was most proud of her career modeling shoes with her tiny little size-4 foot.
Her children have never ceased to marvel at her tenacity, work ethic, ingenuity, and sense of humor that she kept through it all. (Unfortunately she never learned the art of contentment or anger management which she desperately needed. But, understandably, she got off to a rocky start and really never had a fair chance.)
She sincerely delighted in (well, except sometimes when she was living near them) her 11 grandchildren, Ronnie Whitley, Heather Whitley, Christopher Grant, Tonia Bruce, Kim Vance, Chanin Koehn, Michael Novak, Susannah Hill, Justin Hill, and Hudson, Sydney, and Pammy Boyd. She also had four great-grandchildren who are only familiar with the urban legend of their crazy grandmother. Many nieces and nephews live in the Little Rock area, and who sometimes remember her fondly as their unusual and unpredictable Aunt Dorothy.
Almost to the end she was still making people laugh, cussing people out, and looking for the perfect husband.
Arkansas Times Blog, Posted by Max Brantly 
5 comments:
Could you make a copy of that and use that for my obit??? Pretty much of it will probably apply except for the size 4 shoe..........
Thanks,
Aunt Sally
Of course. I thought of you immediately Sally.
One like this makes me glad I have friends that read the obituaries. I am still a bit young for that myself. When I get a bit riper I will probably start, just in case I am in there. It would be embarasing to get caught out on the know on something really important like that about yourself.
Of course now that you have to buy these things, there is a chance that no one would write anything and in that case a body could get caught unawares inspite of due diligence. In my case I know enough people that like to read their own writing that I am not too worried about that particular risk however.
At any rate Sally, I would not let the shoe size deter me - no rule says a woman's feet have to be a size four to be proud of them. The husband count might be the real stubling block. How far do you have to go?
When I grow up, I want to be a lawyer. They never seem to have enough to do. This is from the "Real Aunt Dorothy."
Hi, my name is Jenna (Jennifer Marie Thorn), Dorothy Viola Thorn was my Great Aunt, her brother, Clive was my Grandfather. His son Gordon is my father. I am looking to get in touch with family members. Aunt Dorothy sounds like she had an adventurous life, I would love to know more. Please email me at masterofenergy at yahoo dot com. Thanks:)
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