Dorothy Mae Battaia

Dorothy Mae Battaia, 94, widow of Rudolph A. Battaia, passed away in Colorado, on December 5, 2012, surrounded by her family and friends.

Dottie, as she was known to everyone, was raised in Texas. Her mother died just after Dottie was born so she lived with her grandmother, Emma, until her father remarried and took her home.

As a young adult, while working as a legal secretary, she roomed with several women in Austin who remained lifelong friends. She told of eating only one donut for lunch each day so she could save money to send home to her family. Influenced by the Depression and by arid conditions in Texas, Dottie saved everything, mended anything and incessantly recycled rinse water.

From an early age she loved to read, and words and their meanings were her hobby. Reader's Digest's "How to Increase Your Word Power" was her favorite quiz. She tucked clippings of poetry everywhere. With a sharp intellect and a sweet touch of southern drawl, she spoke and encouraged the use of "the King's English".

At an Austin USO party, Dottie asked Pvt. Rudy Battaia to dance. They corresponded during his military service in the Philippines and Japan. Dottie was very impressed with the Battaia family when she traveled through Denver on a vacation to California. Dottie had always believed a family that prayed together stayed together, and to make that a reality, she converted to Catholicism, at Rudy's request, before they married in 1947, in Denver, Colorado.

Everyone who knew Dottie knew she loved children - her own four - her many nieces and nephews, as well as every neighborhood kid. Dottie most often called any child - regardless of which one - "Precious," "Angel" or "Honey Bunch." They were her work, her joy, and the recipients of her love and good cooking. Dottie was renowned for her yeast breads, cinnamon rolls, peach cobbler, pies and cakes. At Christmas, she baked a dozen different kinds of cookies, fudge, and peanut brittle to share with family and neighbors.

Dottie was an accountant for Rudy's Bakery, a volunteer at the school office and helped many neighbors with business matters. She was a self-taught seamstress who made doll clothes, school clothes, and brightened her kitchen windows with lace trimmed curtains. No household task was beyond her from repainting a porch railing to refinishing and upholstering furniture. Anyone who stopped by the Ames Street house to comment on her flower gardens or just to say "Hi," quickly found themselves in her dining room trading life stories over coffee and "managing to solve the world's problems".

Although Dottie never learned to drive, it didn't hinder her long-time friendships. Lots of people came to see her; others she corresponded with through notes written at her heavy oak desk. Friends from Dottie's work, sewing club, card parties, church, as well as family, appreciated her handwritten missives.

After Rudy's death in 2008, Dottie moved to a senior apartment complex and then into assisted living where she gave a smile, a hug, and a joyful greeting to everyone she met. Although her family has a deep sense of loss and our hearts ache in her absence, the gift of her love is everlasting.

Dorothy is survived by her children: Helen Ann (Mike) Masters of Beaufort, SC, Kathy (Ken) Deprez of Broomfield, CO, Jim (Barb) Battaia of Englewood, CO and Mary Battaia (Andre Roy) of Livermore, CO. Her two brothers predeceased her. She had five grandsons, two great-grandsons, and three great-granddaughters in addition to many nieces and nephews.

A rosary and funeral Mass were held December 7th at St. Mary Magdalene's Catholic Church in Denver. Dottie's cremains will be interred next to Rudy's at Ft. Logan Cemetery, Denver, CO.

Memorials may be made to Hospice of St. John, 1320 Everett Court, Lakewood, CO 80215.