Dorothy Louise Voege, 92, passed peacefully on Sept. 20, 2021, in Lacey, Washington. She is survived by sister, Vera Faulk; brother-in-law, Loyd Percy; son, John Graham (Dee Dee); daughter, Denise Berglund (David); and stepchildren, Carol Granly and Barbara Klingele. She is also survived by 14 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by Richard Voege, husband of 48 years; sisters Jean Olsen and Muriel Percy; brother, Robert Rutledge; and sons, Robert Graham and Thomas Graham.
Born Feb. 11, 1929, in Sumner, Washington to parents Charles and Ethel (McGowan) Rutledge, she grew up attending the Sumner United Methodist Church. Dorothy enjoyed playing the clarinet in the high school band and was crowned the May Queen when she was 17. She graduated Sumner High School class of 1947. She attended Central Washington University and received her BA in Education in 1950 and her Master’s Degree in Counseling at the University of Ohio in 1969. She spent most of her career as a teacher, third grade through eighth and Special Education.
Always loving involvement, Dorothy sat on the board for the Timberland Regional Library and was Chairman of the United Way Committee of Grays Harbor. The pinnacle of Dorothy’s political action came at the age of 77 years old when she became the Mayor of Aberdeen, Washington after serving several years on the City Counsel.
Dorothy lived life with pizazz and passion. When she laughed, she laughed contagiously hard. She read voraciously — always with a book in hand or the daily newspaper. Dorothy faithfully wrote letters to far-off friends and family, even going so far as to create fill-in-the-blank letters for unaccounted grandchildren to fill out and mail back.
Dorothy loved attending musical theater and the ballet, listening to Frank Sinatra and show tunes, playing bridge, solving crossword puzzles, and spending time with family and friends. She will be dearly missed.
A memorial service is planned for Nov. 6, at 10 a.m. at Sumner United Methodist Church. The family requests that any donations in her memory be made to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America online at http://hdsa.org/.
