A Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving for the life of Dorothy Elizabeth Nelson Doremus will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at Davids Funeral Home Chapel with Paul Fontenot, Lay Minister of the First United Methodist, New Iberia, officiating. Visitation will be Saturday from 1:30 p.m. until service time. A private interment will follow at a later date at Rosehill Cemetery. Dorothy passed away peacefully on February 28 in Arlington, Texas, surrounded by four generations of her loving family. She was born on August 5, 1918, in New Iberia, Louisiana, where she lived and attended school. She was May Queen in elementary school and Valedictorian and Senior Class President of the class of 1935 at New Iberia High School, where she later taught. At S.L.I. in Lafayette (currently UL Lafayette) she majored in Home Economics, was a member of the Red Jacket Club, the Student Council, the Modern Dance Club, and President of her sorority. She was in Whos Who in American Colleges and Universities and, for a number of years; she was a member of the New Iberia chapter of N.S.D.A.R. On July 26, 1941, she married Gordon Louis Doremus, also of New Iberia. In 1948 they settled in Houston, where they reared their three children and lived together until his death in 1978. In Houston Dorothy was an active member of the Garden Villas Methodist Church and later the First United Methodist Church in downtown Houston, where she participated in the Oxford Believers Sunday School Class. An avid bridge player and enthusiastic supporter of the Houston Grand Opera, she had many friends in Houston and especially in the Garden Villas community, where she made her home at 7555 Haywood Drive for 53 years. She also became a world traveler during the 1970s and 80s, making trips to Israel and Greece, Peru, Costa Rica, China, the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Turkey. She also crossed Canada from Montreal to Vancouver. In 2005 she moved to Arlington, Texas, to the retirement community of the Waterford at Pantego, where she resided until her death, very much beloved by her circle of new friends. Dorothy, with her strong Christian faith, was a powerful spiritual presence for her family. She took great joy in the many family gatherings that took place at her daughters home in Arlington in celebration of her birthday and holidays. She also enjoyed her annual trip to New Iberia in March to celebrate the birthday of her sister Mary Ingrid Jones (now deceased) and eat crawfish with the family. She was a great lady, a sweet, lovely lady who will be dearly missed. Family survivors include her daughter Dr. Elizabeth Doremus Snchez and husband Dr. Jos Gabriel Snchez; her son Peter Boyd Doremus and wife Vicki McKinney Doremus; her daughter Marianne Doremus Hubbard; five grandchildren: Amber Snchez Dunn; Christopher Gordon Doremus and wife Laura Jacobs Doremus; Daniel Edward Doremus; Adrienne Anne Fonville; and Allison Brynn Hubbard; four great-grandchildren: Corbin Gabriel Dunn; Elle Maya Dunn; Jackson Boyd Doremus; and Clayton Wayne Traylor; nieces and nephews: Edward P. (Ted) Doremus III; Ann Doremus; and Ingrid Mary Jones Booth and her husband John William (Billy) Booth; a grand-niece and nephew: Alisal Booth Baker and Captain Benjamin Nelson Booth; and a great-grand nephew, Ryan William Booth. David Funeral Home, 1101 Trotter St. New Iberia, La. (337)369-6336 is in charge of arrangements.
