Dorothy “Dottie” Mae Fleming, 88, of Robertsdale and formerly of Lewistown, Mont., died tragically in an automobile accident Aug. 20, 2014 in Pensacola.
She was born July 28, 1926 in North Bend, Neb. to Rhinehold and Edna Klug.
Dorothy attended Nebraska District 13 Country School near North Bend and at age 10 lost her mother.
She continued her schooling in North Bend through seventh grade after which she moved with her family to Foley where she completed her education, graduating from Foley High School in 1944.
Dorothy moved back to North Bend to live with her aunt Martha and uncle Louie Rosick and there met her future husband Quintin “Duke” Fleming. The two were married July 8, 1945 in Morse Bluff, Neb.
Duke was discharged from the U.S. Army March 3, 1946, and they moved to Scottsbluff, Neb. and started a family.
In April 1949 her husband, Duke, took a job transfer to Lewistown, Mont. Never having been to Lewistown before, Dorothy made the move with their two boys in the middle of a hot summer by bus through the plains of Dakota, Wyoming and eastern Montana, wondering what desolate place she was headed for.
When they crossed the divide into the Lewistown valley she fell in love with Lewistown and made her home there for the next 51 years.
Dorothy started her work career a few years later at the Home Plate restaurant, moving on to work for SOHIO Oil Co., Coast to Coast, Morries Music and finishing her career working for Central Montana Stockyards and Floyd Hicks for more than 30 years.
After retiring, she and her husband traveled for several years until Duke’s death in 1999.
She moved to Alabama a couple of years later, and continued to enjoy life, going on cruises with her friends and her granddaughter, Kimberly, and attending numerous social events. She loved to have fun and truly enjoyed socializing with her many friends.
Dorothy returned to Lewistown and Great Falls yearly to visit with her family and touch base with her many friends in Montana.
Most of all Dottie, as she liked to be called, loved to go dancing. She began her love affair with dancing during the war years, going to the big-band dances often with her sister, Monie, and they were well known in Baldwin County.
Dottie never lost that love of dancing and continued to do so two or three nights a week at various locations in south Alabama and northwest Florida until the night of her death while returning from a dance in Pensacola.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Duke; her daughter-in-law, Sandra “Sam” McCullough Fleming; her sister, Norine; and brother, Arlan.
Dottie Mae is survived by her brother, Mervin Klug (Velma) of Austin Texas; sister, Ramona “Monie” Vincent of Riverside, Calif.; her sons, Ronald Fleming of Great Falls, Mont. and Kirk Fleming (Robin) of Lewistown, Mont.; grandchildren, Kimberly Bowen (Lee) of Holt, Fla., Damon Fleming (Michelle) of Seattle, Wash., Drew Fleming (Jen) of Bozeman, Mont., Tanya Hanna (Chris) of Springfield, Mo., Tate Fleming (Angie) of Lewistown, Mont., Skylar Fleming of Seattle, Wash. and Kristian Fleming of Lewistown, Mont.; great-grandchildren, Devin Justice, Dayne Justice, Dylan Fleming, Lelaina Fleming, Quintin Hanna, Taylor Hanna, Addison Hanna, Kyler Fleming, Shay Barnes, Tylee Barnes and Jayda Barnes.
We will miss her beautiful smile and the joy our mother, sister, grandmother and great-grandmother took in her family, friends and in life.
Memorials are suggested to Lewistown’s Veterans Park or the donor’s choice.
The family plans a celebration of Dottie’s life around her birthday in July 2015.
Arrangements by Creel Funeral Home, Lewistown, Mont.
