Dorothy Mathews Dowling, known as Dottie was born in Abilene, Texas on November 19, 1937 to Lewis and Mildred Mathews and was the second of six children. Dottie was in the very last graduating class (1955) at the original Abilene High School. She attended Texas Tech University and originally majored in Fashion Merchandising, later changing her major to Food and Nutrition and graduated in 1959. She then moved to Oklahoma City to do a one-year dietetic internship at the University of Oklahoma Medical School. During that year, she met a young doctor named Jim Dowling who was just out of Southwestern Medical School and had moved to Oklahoma City to do his one-year internship. About two months after they met, Dottie moved to Houston to work at Rice Institute (now Rice University) as a dietician for Jones College, which fed all the women that attended Rice. She went back to OKC to visit Jim the following Thanksgiving and later married on March 11, 1961 in OKC.
Dottie and Jim had three children, Mike, Steve and Chris born in 1962, 1963, and 1964. The Dowling family moved to Denton in July 1965 and rented a house on Bellmead St. A year later, they moved to a new 2-story house on Nottingham Dr. Not long after they moved, Dottie had an idea to have a fire pole installed between the upstairs and newly converted garage so that there would be an alternate escape route in case of fire. The renovation work was done by DHS coaches, C.H. Collins, Bill Carrico, Billy Ryan and Jerry Hudgens during the summer when all of the coaches were off from work at school.
Throughout her life, Dottie kept busy with a variety of businesses and hobbies. Originally, she practiced as a Dietician in Denton across the street from Flow Hospital. Around that time she managed food catering for some of TWU’s special occasions. After retiring as a Dietician, she opened a wine and cheese store called “The Chateau” on East University Drive. Later she had a Stained Glass Studio near the NTSU campus, sold Real Estate for Ebby Halliday, managed the Denton Visual Arts Center, served on the Denton Housing Authority Board, audited American Airlines flights and spent years making jellies, jams and mustards for friends and neighbors.
Dottie and Jim moved to Nacogdoches, Texas in 1998 and lived there until their move back to Denton in 2017. Dottie passed away on Friday, June 9, 2023 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Denton, Texas. She was surrounded by all of her family and grandchildren and each had a chance to visit with her personally before she passed. She was preceded in death by her parents and siblings Bill, Tom and Susie.
Dottie is survived by her husband of 62 years, Dr. James K. Dowling as well as her three sons; Mike, Steve and Chris. She left two daughters-in-law, Rhonda and Deanna as well as five grandchildren, Michael, Kiely, Regan, Heather and Kendall. She is also survived by two of her sisters, Barbara Caffrey and Elizabeth Hall.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, June 14 from 10:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M. at DeBerry Funeral Home with interment to follow at Roselawn Memorial Park.
