Born in Livingston, MT in 1920, Dorothy's parents, Emmett Gordon and Winifred Vincent Taylor, and older sister, Cleda Taylor Laing, moved to Missoula, where she graduated from Missoula Co. H.S. in 1938. An avid horsewoman, she majored in music at the University of Montana, where she met her husband James A. "Smokey" Alexander. Married in 1941, the couple moved to Yakima, WA where their daughter, Denise Lynn Alexander Bittner, was born in 1950. after living in Kalispell and Billings, MT, the family moved to Boise in 1955.
Volunteering at her daughter's school activities and being the neighborhood "Mom". Dorothy taught at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario; was fashion coordinator for Brookovers, Falks, The Mode, and Carrols; participated in Boise's Music Week and Boise Little Theater; was a founder of Boise's FUNDSY; the founding president of the Assistance League of Boise; Director of the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. Named Idaho's Outstanding Citizen in 1981, she was a key volunteer for the 1986 National Governors' Conference held in Idaho.
the couple moved to Chapel Hill, NC in 1989 to live near their daughter and son-in-law, Dr. John R. Bittner, where she taught at Central Carolina Community College and volunteered at the University of North Carolina Hospital. The family returned to Boise in 2005, where "Smokey" died in 2014 after 73 years of marriage.
She was a giving, devoted, smart, vivacious, optimistic, courageous, loving mother, wife, friend, and human being.
Per her request, no service will be held. She will be buried next to "Smokey" in Ketchum Cemetery, ID.
Born in Livingston, MT in 1920, Dorothy's parents, Emmett Gordon and Winifred Vincent Taylor, and older sister, Cleda Taylor Laing, moved to Missoula, where she graduated from Missoula Co. H.S. in 1938. An avid horsewoman, she majored in music at the University of Montana, where she met her husband James A. "Smokey" Alexander. Married in 1941, the couple moved to Yakima, WA where their daughter, Denise Lynn Alexander Bittner, was born in 1950. after living in Kalispell and Billings, MT, the family moved to Boise in 1955.
Volunteering at her daughter's school activities and being the neighborhood "Mom". Dorothy taught at Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario; was fashion coordinator for Brookovers, Falks, The Mode, and Carrols; participated in Boise's Music Week and Boise Little Theater; was a founder of Boise's FUNDSY; the founding president of the Assistance League of Boise; Director of the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. Named Idaho's Outstanding Citizen in 1981, she was a key volunteer for the 1986 National Governors' Conference held in Idaho.
the couple moved to Chapel Hill, NC in 1989 to live near their daughter and son-in-law, Dr. John R. Bittner, where she taught at Central Carolina Community College and volunteered at the University of North Carolina Hospital. The family returned to Boise in 2005, where "Smokey" died in 2014 after 73 years of marriage.
She was a giving, devoted, smart, vivacious, optimistic, courageous, loving mother, wife, friend, and human being.
Per her request, no service will be held. She will be buried next to "Smokey" in Ketchum Cemetery, ID.
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