Dorothy Ruth Witte Lampshire, age 92 of Foley, Alabama, daughter of the late Erma (Longstreth) and Oscar Witte, died peacefully on June 13, 2022, in Knoxville, Tennessee.
She was born in North Platte, Nebraska on January 13, 1930. She spent 11 years at Mother’s Jewels Home, a Methodist orphanage in York, Nebraska, a place she considered a total blessing.
After graduating from York High School, she studied sociology and received a B.S. degree from Nebraska Wesleyan, where she met her husband, Wayne Gilbert Lampshire. She also attended the University of Nebraska Graduate School of Social Work.
Being married to a petroleum geologist for 58 years took her around the globe, including Trinidad, West Indies; Cochabamba, Bolivia; Bogota and Cucuta, Colombia; Anchorage, Alaska; Moraga, California; Tripoli, Libya, N. Africa; New Orleans and Lafayette, Louisiana; and Houston, Texas. She and Wayne eventually settled in Foley, Alabama, which became their home for over 30 years.
Dorothy served as the Director of Alaska Homemaker Home Health Aid Service, a federal agency to train Eskimo women to be home health aid workers. She also sold real estate in Lafayette, Louisiana, and in her first year reached $1 million ($3.53 million inflation-adjusted) in sales.
She loved playing golf and one year played on the men’s team for the National Bolivian Golf Tournament (they were short one man). She also loved playing bridge, was involved in Foley Woman’s Club (serving as Treasurer seven times) and was a founder of Foley Republican Women club. More than anything, Dorothy and Wayne loved to entertain and made lifelong friends wherever they lived.
Dorothy loved to laugh, share stories, and always lit up the room. She was a devoted mother and loving wife and was extremely generous to a number of charities.
She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband, two brothers (Richard Witte and Donald Hartwig) and one sister (Beverly Dugan). She is survived by son, John Judson Lampshire, daughter, LeAnn (Lampshire) Luna, nieces Alma (McKenzie) Allen, Anna (McKenzie) Woerner, Lori (Dugan) Bagley, Tammy (Hartwig) Narducci, nephews Bryan McKenzie and Randy Dugan, son-in-law, John Luna, and daughter-in-law, Leota Lampshire.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Foley United Methodist Church, located at 915 N. Pine St., Foley, AL 36535, your local Humane Society, or the charity of your choice.
