Dorothy Stokes

Dorothy Lynn (Dottie) Stokes, passed away Saturday, August 13, 2005 at her home in Abilene. Services will be held at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 16, at The Hamil Family Funeral Home. She was preceded in death by her parents, George Lynn (G.L.) and Wynelle Smartt Francis and brother, G.L. Francis, III. The family will receive friends from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday, August 15 at the funeral home. Dottie was born in Abilene on August 4, 1929 and attended Abilene public schools. Following her graduation from Abilene High School in 1946, she then attended Hardin-Simmons University, where she met her husband, Herb. They were married in 1948, and enjoyed a life filled with adventure and travel, mostly enjoyable. However she did experience some amount of 'culture shock' when they moved from Abilene to places like Marfa, Texas, then to Lubbock, and from Lubbock on to Chicago, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Albany, Georgia, and Frankfurt, Germany. She never really wanted to leave Texas, but always ended up enjoying the opportunity to make new friends as she became involved in the life of whatever community she lived in. Their four sons, Scott, George (Tony), Steve and Mark each graduated from different high schools in different states and different countries, but her love of Texas influenced each of them back to Texas to attend college. Scott now lives in Arlington with his wife, Lynn and their children Amanda and Jeffery. Tony (George Forbis-Stokes) lives in Potosi with his wife, Nancy and their sons John and Aaron, Steve, who lives in Abilene, and Mark, who lives in Taipei, Taiwan, where he will soon be joined by his wife, Elma, and their children, Mark Jr., Tyler, Laurel and Kitrick. Herb retired in 1980 from a 30 year career with Procter and Gamble, and they moved back to Texas, where they embarked on two new 'joint' careers, one involving raising cattle on their ranch near Oplin and the other establishing a management consulting business that led to further travels to places like Cupertino, CA, Nampa, ID, Maynard MA and Orlando, FL. For relaxation, she enjoyed playing duplicate bridge with Herb as her partner at the Abilene bridge club. After retiring from this career in 1995, she and Herb moved to Abilene, where she continued to play bridge with a group of friends and soon began working as a volunteer in the Dietetics Department at the Abilene Regional Medical Center, where she continued to work until a week before her death. As a loving wife, devoted mother and friend, she will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by all those whose life she touched. Memorials can be made to the Hospice of the Big Country, or to your favorite church or charity.