Dorothy Ada "Dottie" DAVIS
Obituary

Dorothy Goodrich Obituary
Dorothy Goodrich

October 27, 1937 - September 15, 2023

Olympia, Washington - Dorothy Ada Goodrich, née Davis, passed away on September 15, 2023.

A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 2:00 pm at Olympia First Baptist Church.

Dorothy was born in Brooklyn, NY on October 27, 1937 and was known to her friends and colleagues as "Dottie." Dottie grew up on Long Island, NY in the towns of Huntington, and Valley Stream.

Dottie was graduated from Oneonta State Teachers College in Oneonta, New York in 1959. Dottie married Fred W. Goodrich the weekend after her college graduation and they drove to Ft. Lewis, Washington where Fred was posted by the U.S. Army.

Dottie soon got a job teaching with the Olympia School District. Dottie and her teaching partner, Shirley Swan, educated generations of Olympia children, primarily at Garfield Elementary. Dottie and Shirley were early adapters of the cyclical theory of maturational development, and traveled to the Gesell Institute of Child Development at Yale to study with Frances Ilg, MD, the Director and co-founder of the institute.

Dottie gave birth to her first son, Glen in 1960 and her second son Scott in 1963. Separated from her parents and siblings by 3000 miles, Dottie, her dear friend Eleanor Weisenbach (dec'd.), and their respective spouses, created an extended family whose importance rivaled that of Dottie and Fred's birth families and remained the gravitational center of Dottie's family even after Dottie's parents and younger brother moved to Washington in the 1970s.

Ever the kindergarten teacher, Dottie encouraged everyone to find compassion for those with whom they have conflict. Although kind to a fault, she would frequently listen to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture on repeat at report card time. Dottie had a fabulous sense of humor, and would share her many wry observations with her family and friends.

The last few years of Dottie's life were not easy, physically or emotionally; however, despite her almost total dependence on her loving son Glen, and her home health care workers, Dottie's house was always a place of warmth, love and laughter. She looked forward to her weekly games of chicken feet and visits from her friends. Her passing leaves a void that can never be filled.

Dottie is survived by her two sons, Glen Goodrich and Scott Goodrich (wife, Katey Miller) and grandson Wei Miller-Goodrich. She was preceded in death by her parents Ronald and Mildred Davis, her husband Fred, her brothers Wesley (wife, Martha) and Ralph (husband, Luis Cadahia, dec'd.).

In lieu of flowers, Dottie would want you to spend quality time with the children in your life, so please do that.

Published by The Olympian from Oct. 24 to Oct. 29, 2023.

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