Dorothy was born to Leroy and Blance Bookless Snodgrass. She was born with a cleft palate and scoliosis (curviture of the spine). She was operated on at the Mayo clinic in Kansas City when she was 1 yr old. Later she has osteoporosis at which time she lost 5 inches in height (from 5' to 4'7"). She had a good childhood growing up on a farm and she went to school where other children treat her okay. She graduated from high school in Nickerson, KS and went on to become a mother's helper and cook. She was working as this when she met the brother of her employer, Gaylord Bradford, and they were married on 3 Oct 1933. She lost a female child the next year, but in 1936, another baby girl was born to them. She worked as a cook at Wiley's Tea Room in Hutchinson, KS and later, when the war came along, she worked in Wichita, KS at Beechcraft as Rosie the Riviter. The family moved to Avondale/Coldwater, AZ in 1943, for her husband's health. She worked at the Goodyear plant and was able to walk to work. The country did not agree with her husband, so they returned to Kansas and her old job at Beechcraft. After the war she was without a job because she lost her seniority when she moved to AZ. She worked at various jobs, but in 1946, the family moved to Long Beach, CA and she started working at Savitz Restuarant. She was with them for 20 years as a cook and eventually their baker. When they became non-union she moved over to Jones Cafeteria as their baker, and eventually she became a baker for Park Pantry. She worked in various stores for them but most of the time she worked in the Dominguez restuarant. There she retired. In 1957, she married David McKenzie, and they enjoyed a very companionable marriage. He passed away on May 9, 1970. When she retired she took a two month trip across the US with her daughter's family. She moved into a senior's apt. home and enjoyed the company there. In 1996, she finally stated that she needed to live with her daughter. She enjoyed being in Las Vegas, but missed her friends in Long Beach and longed to return. The problem was that she was legally blind. She then became subject of dementia. She went to visit her grandson's family and it was decided that she should go into an assisted living complex. A beautiful one was found, being the Carson Valley Residential Care home. She was not happy at first but with all their programs she found companionship and things to do. She was able to have the visits of her 3 great grandchildren, and two grandchildren and her daughter came up to visit. She had a stroke while having her hair done on April 16th. She could not eat/drink on her own as she could not swallow. On May 13, 1999, she passed away in Gardnerville, NV. She was buried in Long Beach with her first husband, Gaylord Bradford.