Dorothy Mildred Harrer, 95, passed away on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at Hamilton Communities, New Carlisle. She was born October 15, 1916 in Paris, Illinois to Ira S. Haverfield and Nellie Margaret (Burke) Haverfield. Her father was a Methodist minister who served several pastorates in Illinois and Iowa.
Following her father's death in 1926, Dorothy and her mother went to live with relatives in Vananda, Montana, where Dorothy graduated from high school. She attended Montana State College (now Montana State University) in Bozeman, receiving a BS degree in home economics in 1938. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, Mortar Board, Spurs, and Phi Kappa Phi. She completed the Post Graduate Dietetics course at Harper Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, in 1939.
On September 10, 1939, she married Paul Henry Harrer in Flint, Michigan. They made their home in LaPorte, Indiana, where Paul worked as an engineer with Allis-Chalmers, becoming Chief Engineer in 1957. For more than 50 years, they lived on Severs Road, in a house Paul largely built himself. He died September 2, 2004.
Dorothy was a member of First Methodist Church, then of the Presbyterian Church, and finally of New Prairie Community Fellowship near Hamilton Communities. She worked as a dietician at La Porte Hospital and also as an instructor of nutrition for nursing students at Purdue North Central. She was an active volunteer with Meals on Wheels, working in the office as well as making deliveries along with Paul. They enjoyed square and round dancing, belonging to several clubs over the years. She belonged to the American Association of University Women, the Mental Health Board, and the Ruth Coffeen Poetry Club. Her family treasures her many poems and the journals she kept all her life.
Dorothy is survived by three children: Patricia Frazier of South Bend (John); Kay Hohn of Salmo, British Columbia, Canada (Paul Van Wijk); and James Paul Harrer of Elgin, Illinois (Patricia); ten grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.
A Memorial Service will be announced at a later date. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Cutler Funeral Home & Cremation Service.
Contributions in Dorothy's memory may be made to Hamilton Communities, 31869 Chicago Trail, New Carlisle, IN 46552 or to Meals on Wheels, P.O. Box 1381, La Porte, IN 46352.