Dorothy Waller

Dorothy Louise Lyman Waller

Dorothy Waller left this world peacefully Monday, December 4, 2017, to be with the Lord she loved. She was one day shy of her 88 th birthday.

Born December 5, 1929 in Middletown, CT, she was the daughter of John and Edna Anderson Lyman and grew up on the Lyman Farm in Middlefield, CT with her brother Jack and two sisters Betty (Warden) and Mary (Heist). Dorothy was educated in the Middlefield elementary schools, the Northfield School for Girls (MA) and attended Oberlin College (OH), guided by her love of music. She graduated with a liberal arts degree in 1951. Oberlin was also where she met her future husband, Michael (Mike). They were married in Middlefield June 30, 1951.

During the next 66 years they were richly blessed with three children, their spouses, eleven grandchildren and two grand-spouses. This blessing of extended family caused Dorothy to exclaim on dozens of occasions, “My heart is overflowing.” During their marriage, Dorothy graciously moved wherever Mike’s business required, from Ohio to Missouri, Virginia to North Carolina and eventually back to her Connecticut home.
Over the years and with the desire to put down “roots” wherever the opportunity, Dorothy honed her magnificent gift of dedicated involvement in her church, and community. Her most impressive gifts were those of hospitality and laughter, especially at herself. In part due to the family’s regular moving as well as a sense of graciousness imparted to her from her mother, Edna, Dorothy never overlooked a person needing a friend. Over the years in any and every city, the dining room table was shared by family and friends and strangers who quickly and always became friends. During the mid-1970’s and while in Columbus, OH, Dorothy noticed Cambodian refugees in the back of the First Congregational Church and became involved in ensuring their integration into Columbus after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Upon returning to Middlefield in 1982, she devoted time and energy to the Middlefield Federated Church, serving as interim organist and choir director. She was also active in Meals on Wheels, the Durham Garden Club and the Women’s Board of the Middlesex YMCA. While on the “Y” board, she was instrumental in the planning and implementation of a Designer Show House using her 200 year-oldfamily home, the Lyman Homestead, as the 2001 feature.

Dorothy is survived by her husband, Michael, daughter Andrea Waller (Kelleher), her husband Kelly and their three children, Christopher, Deidre and Jason, son David, his wife Susan and their four children Henry, Peter, Ellen and Mark and daughter Amy (Stoehr), her husband Jay and their four children Jamie (Emily), Sydney (Sam Whedon), Madeline and Gretchen, as well as brother Jack Lyman and sisters Betty Warden and Mary Heist.

A service celebrating Dorothy will be held in Cincinnati Dec 11, 2:00pm at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. A celebration of life will be held at Middlefield Federated Church, Middlefield, CT in January, date TBD. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Middlefield Federated Church (Middlefield, CT) or Queen City Hospice (Cincinnati, OH)