Dottie L. Gibson Gay, age 87, of Vermilion, Ohio, passed away Tuesday, June 12, 2018, at the New Life Hospice Center of St. Joseph, Lorain, Ohio, following a long and courageous battle with COPD.
Born on January 23, 1931, in Marlinton, she was a daughter of the late Willie and Stella Meeks Gibson.
Dottie moved to Lorain, Ohio, in 1947, then to Vermilion, Ohio, in 1971, where she lived until recently, when she moved in with her daughter and son-in-law, Teri and Terry, in Amherst, Ohio.
She worked at McGarvey’s Restaurant and Landing for 17 years and then was employed at Ford Motor Company, in Lorain, Ohio, for another 17 years before finally retiring. However, even in retirement, she couldn’t sit still and kept busy working at The Surgery Center of Lorain.
Dottie was a charter member of AMVETS Post 22 and a member of VFW Post 7576 and American Legion Post 397, both in Vermilion, Ohio. She really enjoyed staying busy. She enjoyed working in the yard, especially in her garden, and watching and feeding the birds and squirrels. She also enjoyed fishing, playing cards and was always ready for a good western novel. She was a long time Cleveland Indians and Cavaliers fan with a fiery passion for her favorite player “Lebron.” She left us hoping he will stay in Cleveland.
Of all the things Dottie enjoyed doing, nothing beat laughing and smiling with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Through it all, she always looked forward to enjoying a Margarita on the rocks.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her siblings, Goldie Sampson, Gertrude Laboe, Kemp Gibson, Steryl Gibson, Bob Gibson and Louise VanReenan.
She will be dearly missed by her children, Roger Gay, and wife, Betty, of Port Orchard, Washington, Jeffrey Gay, of Slaty Fork, Teri Caudill and husband, Terry, of Amherst, Ohio, and Jeri VanReenan and Richard Subaran, of Silver Springs, Maryland; her beloved grandchildren, Tiffany Gay, Tad Caudill and Janele, Tara Caudill and James Jones, and Naomi Saunders; her treasured great-grandchildren, Jack and Molly Caudill, Tenley Smith and Tucker Jones. She is also survived by her siblings, Genevieve Dinkins, Mamie Napier, Penny Drewery, Kenneth Gibson, and Carolyn Shafer; as well as many nieces and nephews.
Dottie wanted a true celebration of life. The family will host a private celebration at a later date in her hometown of Marlinton. The Dovin and Reber Jones Funeral & Cremation Center in Amherst, Ohio, is assisting the family.
Contributions, in Dottie’s memory, may be made to New Life Hospice Center of St. Joseph, 3700 Kolbe Road, Lorain, OH 44053.
Online condolences may be made at www.dovinreberjones.com
