Dorothy Ray Hartline
Dorothy Ray Hartline passed away on March 15, 2019 at the age of 89 at the Hendrick Hospice Care Center in Abilene. She will be buried next to her husband on Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. at Waco Memorial Park. A visitation with the family will be held on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at Piersall Funeral Directors, 733 Butternut Street in Abilene from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.
Dorothy was born on August 1, 1929 in Mexia, Texas to Melvin Ray and Allie Alice (Allison) Dodd. When she was 8 years old, the family moved to Groesbeck, Texas. Two months before her 16th birthday, her father was killed in an explosion at a Humble Oil facility near Groesbeck. The next year, 1946, she graduated from Groesbeck High School.
After high school, Dorothy moved to Dallas, Texas to attend a commercial college and after finishing that portion of her education, went to work for Sears, Roebuck and Company in an office there in Dallas. It was in Dallas that she met a handsome, young Air Force sergeant at a house party in June 1951. They apparently got along pretty well because on September 22, 1951 Dorothy married Cleo Hartline.
After completing his Air Force commitment, Cleo and Dorothy continued to live in Dallas where he worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and she continued to work for Sears. In 1954, Cleo was transferred to Waco, Texas where they settled down and built a home. In 1956, Dorothy gave birth to a son, Melvin Ray Hartline and became a full-time mother and housewife.
Transfers with Southwestern Bell took Dorothy to Lampasas, Texas in 1973 and Temple, Texas in 1975. She remained in Temple after Cleo’s retirement in 1982 and his passing in 2004. Health issues and the need to be closer to family prompted her to move to Abilene, Texas in 2012 where she resided at University Place.
Dorothy was an avid puzzle solver, especially cryptograms and Sudoku puzzles. She was active in church life wherever she lived being involved with the Christian Women’s Organization at Lakewood Christian Church in Waco and the Ladies’ Bible Class at Northside Church of Christ in Temple. And even though she could not carry a tune in a bucket, she greatly enjoyed listening to music of all styles.
She was preceded in death by her husband, her mother and father, and her step-father Edgar Murphy.
Dorothy is survived by her son, Melvin Ray Hartline and his wife, Nancy of Abilene. She is also survived by her granddaughter Allyson Keker and her husband, Richard of Abilene; grandson Garrison Hartline and his wife, Megan of Hartford, Connecticut and great grandsons Daniel Grant Keker of Abilene and Samuel Faver Hartline of Hartford. Other survivors include her remaining sister-in-law Barbara Davis of Wylie, Texas and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, you honor Dorothy by donations to the Hendrick Medical Center Foundation, American Ex-Prisoners of War Organization or the ACU Music Department.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.pbfuneraldirectors.com.