FAIRHOPE, ALA. — The name Dorothy Brodbeck “Dot” Pacey will always be synonymous with Punta Clara Kitchen in Point Clear. The ever-smiling family matriarch greeted hundreds, if not thousands, of tourists and locals each year at the candy shop she operated for more than five decades.

Pacey died peacefully Saturday afternoon, June 21, losing her nearly six-year struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). She was 88.

“This (candy kitchen) was her life,” her son, Paul Pacey Jr., said Monday. “She was always up here. Even on Saturday sometimes, she was here. After (ALS) started affecting her more, she was here. She would come up and spend a little time here and there, until she was unable to drive.”

Dot was in the kitchen regularly for quite some time after her diagnosis, but when her home received substantial damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she became a resident at Carroll Place in Fairhope, where she lived the remainder of her days.

Pacey was born at Mobile Infirmary in 1920, but later moved to Point Clear, where many family members had settled after they immigrated from their German homeland.

She graduated from the University of Alabama in 1942 with a bachelor of science degree in home economics. While in Tuscaloosa, she met Paul G. Pacey Sr., a UA chemical engineering student who would later become her husband. The elder Pacey served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, working on biological warfare projects.

Dot began Punta Clara Kitchen in 1952, first making candy in a 16-by-24-foot building that was standing in the backyard of the old family home, known as Miss Colleen’s House. Paul said the name of the shop was taken from old Spanish land grants, noting Point Clear was first charted by explorer Alonzo Alverez de Pineda in 1519.

When Dot’s husband died of leukemia in 1972, she devoted more time and energy to the endeavor.

Paul said, “She started it as a hobby. When my dad died, she threw herself more into it to have something to do and put those memories behind her.”

Dot moved the candy shop into the main house in 1975 after the last Brodbeck living there passed away. It has been an even more visible landmark on Scenic 98 ever since, and still features her well-loved divinity, chocolates, fudges, pralines and jellies.

Dot and her candy kitchen received national attention over the years on television and in magazines, and many of her customers and friends are mourning her passing.

“Several people have called with condolences,” Paul said.

Dot lost her ability to speak (and smile) as ALS took its toll, he said, but she continued to communicate by using hand signals or pointing to letters on a board. Until the early afternoon of the day she died, she was able to blink her eyes in response to questions.

“She put up a real battle,” Paul said. “She didn’t contract it until she was over 80.”

There was some debate over whether to close the shop for Dot’s funeral, because she very well might have expected her family to keep the doors open.

Paul said, “She was old German and conservative. She’s the one who taught us as kids the personal traits. She had a good personality — never met a stranger. She always greeted customers, and she was big on church.” Dot was a charter member of the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fairhope.

He added, “She was a good mother, and a good employer. Everybody up here (at Punta Clara) thought a lot of her.”

Dot Pacey was preceded in death by her husband, Paul G. Pacey Sr. She is survived by her sons, Paul G. Pacey Jr. (Susan) of Point Clear and David M. Pacey (Helen) of Robertsdale; a daughter, Susan P. Harvison of Fairhope; two brothers, Arnold M. Brodbeck Jr. (Betty) of Fairhope and John E. Brodbeck (Ruth Ann) of Point Clear; seven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services were held Tuesday at Redeemer Lutheran Church. She was buried at Memory Gardens of Fairhope.

In her honor, donations may be made to Redeemer Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 411, Fairhope, AL 36533, or to the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s ALS Division, 3300 E. Sunrise Dr., Tucson, AZ 85718-3299.