Dorothy C. (Shidler) Springer
Marriages
Henry George "Jimmy" Springer - June 24, 1938
Burial Details
Obituaries
Steamboat Today - August 6, 2006
Longtime Northwest Colorado resident Dorothy C. Springer died July 26, 2006, at the Doak Walker Care Center in Steamboat Springs. She was 96.
Dorothy was born April 30, 1910, in San Francisco to Alvin H. and Hannah (Johansen) Shidler. Dorothy was raised and attended school in Kansas City, Kan., graduating from Wyandot High School in 1927. Following high school, Dorothy attended the Bethany Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, from which she graduated in 1930.
Dorothy lived in various places, including Tonopah, Nev.; Eglon, Wash.; Kansas City, Kan.; and Chicago, where she worked with a doctor assisting in delivering babies. She also took additional training in obstetrics.
Dorothy came to Steamboat Springs in 1937, and then to Craig and then to Hayden, where she met her future husband, Henry George "Jimmy" Springer. They were married June 24, 1938, in Steamboat. They made their home in Hayden, where they became the parents of a daughter, Gretchen. Dorothy was a homemaker and also worked as a nurse at the hospital in Hayden until it closed in 1960. At different times she worked at the hospital in Steamboat and at Valley View Manor Nursing Home in Craig.
She enjoyed sewing, fishing, going hunting with her husband, camping with her family and just being outdoors. She loved to watch sports; football and baseball were her favorites. She loved to clean her home and took great pride in maintaining it, and she was very fond of her grandchildren and enjoyed being with them. She also was very artistic and liked to draw.
Dorothy spent several years living at Sunset Meadows Retirement Home in Craig and thoroughly enjoyed being there and associating with the other residents. Most recently she had resided at the Doak Walker Care Center in Steamboat.
Dorothy is survived by her daughter, Gretchen Hayes of Hayden; her grandchildren, Lori Lombardi and Shawn Hayes of Oak Creek; her great-grandchildren, Toni, Tatum, and Pie Lombardi and Warren and Hanna Hayes; her sister, Elsie Kerr of Yakima Wash.; her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Shidler of Lake Charles, La.; and several nieces and nephews.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Gordon D., who died in infancy, Eugene W. Shidler and Clifford N. Shidler; and her husband, Henry George "Jimmy" Springer.
Memorial services were held July 30, 2006, at the Hayden Congregational Church with Pastor Janet Babish officiating. The prelude and postlude music was played by Avis Funk on the organ, and a special musical number, "My Heart Will Go On," was rendered by Chris Kerr accompanied on the organ by Elaine DeuPree. Honorary pallbearers were "All Dorothy's Family and Her Many Friends". Her cremains were interred in the Hayden Cemetery next to her husband. Memorial donations may be made to the Doak Walker Care Center in care of Grant Mortuary, 621 Yampa Ave., Craig, CO 81625.
