The wife of the Rev. David Heckman, pastor of Russell and Akeley United Methodist Churches, Dorie was a leader, board member and administrative assistant for Western PA Prison Outreach Ministries. As a volunteer, she led a weekly Bible study in Spanish at a federal correctional facility. She was instrumental in translating the Disciple Bible Study curriculum into Spanish for use in the prison ministry.
She was born August 8, 1945 in Pittsburgh, PA to the late Charles S. and Ruth Hayes Dunning. Dorie grew up in Penn Hills and graduated with high honors from Penn Hills High School and with Distinction from Otterbein College in Westerville, OH with a degree in Elementary Education. She taught for 12 years in Westerville, OH; taught kindergarten in Holiday Park, PA and was the Center Director of the Penn Hill Kinder Care Learning Centers for 13 years. After retiring, she drove a van for special needs students.
She was a member of the Akeley United Methodist Church and a former member of the Holiday Park United Methodist Church of Plum Borough, PA. She served on many local church committees, was a Certified Lay Speaker and frequent church pianist. She also has served on the Board of Directors of the Olmsted Manor Retreat Center in Ludlow, and on several ministry teams for the Western PA Conference of the United Methodist Church.
She often portrayed her great-great grandmother describing the life of a Circuit Rider's family in her "Journey Through Methodist History" at Methodist churches in PA, MD, DE, VA, and MN where her ancestors had served as pastors. She was a women of strong faith and values, which made a great partner in her husband's ministry.
Dorie enjoyed boating, skiing, reading, genealogy, sewing, camping, and working on the computer to prepare PowerPoint presentations and web pages.
She is survived by her husband of 27 years, Rev. David T. Heckman, whom she married in 1984; two daughters, Tracy S. Kaufman and her husband Steven Cassidy of Dublin, OH, Sherry L. Conrad and her husband Sean of Steubenville, OH; one stepdaughter, Michelle Heckman Colder and husband, Jamie of Vandergrift, PA; five grandchildren, Nick Ruefle, Megan and Mark Cassidy, Delaney Colder, and Kaitlyn Conrad; one cousin, Robert Dunning Weaver of Auburn, CA. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her stepmother, Charlotte Gay Dunning; her first husband, Keith Kaufmann whom she married in 1966.
The wife of the Rev. David Heckman, pastor of Russell and Akeley United Methodist Churches, Dorie was a leader, board member and administrative assistant for Western PA Prison Outreach Ministries. As a volunteer, she led a weekly Bible study in Spanish at a federal correctional facility. She was instrumental in translating the Disciple Bible Study curriculum into Spanish for use in the prison ministry.
She was born August 8, 1945 in Pittsburgh, PA to the late Charles S. and Ruth Hayes Dunning. Dorie grew up in Penn Hills and graduated with high honors from Penn Hills High School and with Distinction from Otterbein College in Westerville, OH with a degree in Elementary Education. She taught for 12 years in Westerville, OH; taught kindergarten in Holiday Park, PA and was the Center Director of the Penn Hill Kinder Care Learning Centers for 13 years. After retiring, she drove a van for special needs students.
She was a member of the Akeley United Methodist Church and a former member of the Holiday Park United Methodist Church of Plum Borough, PA. She served on many local church committees, was a Certified Lay Speaker and frequent church pianist. She also has served on the Board of Directors of the Olmsted Manor Retreat Center in Ludlow, and on several ministry teams for the Western PA Conference of the United Methodist Church.
She often portrayed her great-great grandmother describing the life of a Circuit Rider's family in her "Journey Through Methodist History" at Methodist churches in PA, MD, DE, VA, and MN where her ancestors had served as pastors. She was a women of strong faith and values, which made a great partner in her husband's ministry.
Dorie enjoyed boating, skiing, reading, genealogy, sewing, camping, and working on the computer to prepare PowerPoint presentations and web pages.
She is survived by her husband of 27 years, Rev. David T. Heckman, whom she married in 1984; two daughters, Tracy S. Kaufman and her husband Steven Cassidy of Dublin, OH, Sherry L. Conrad and her husband Sean of Steubenville, OH; one stepdaughter, Michelle Heckman Colder and husband, Jamie of Vandergrift, PA; five grandchildren, Nick Ruefle, Megan and Mark Cassidy, Delaney Colder, and Kaitlyn Conrad; one cousin, Robert Dunning Weaver of Auburn, CA. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her stepmother, Charlotte Gay Dunning; her first husband, Keith Kaufmann whom she married in 1966.
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