Dorothy Berntson Watkiss 7/1/1925 ~7/13/2011
Days after turning 86, Dorothy Wakiss - known to all as Dot - concluded a life of education, adventure, accomplishment, family and civic activism. Born in Salt Lake City to John and Irma Berntson, Dot attended East High and graduated from the University of Utah, before starting her family with husband and trial lawyer, David K. Watkiss. Dot is survived by two of her seven siblings, Phyllis and Margaret; sons David, Dan and Mike; daughters-in-law Terry, Dianna, Carol and Darl; grandchildren, Sam, Mike, Colt, Dana, David and Dylan, and great grandson, Mateo. Following stints with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Salt Lake and Washington DC and as a stewardess with United Airlines, Dot committed her life to her family, the University of Utah, and myriad civic and charitable endeavors. For the University she served on the National Advisory Board, and as co-chair and founding member of the College of Social and Behavioral Science Advisory Board. In those roles, Dot concentrated her considerable organizational skills on improving student support services and financial aid. Dot worked tirelessly for the Salt Lake Chapter of the Assistance League where she took great joy every year in providing clothing and school supplies to the community's grade and middle schoolers in need. Representing the State of Utah, she served for years on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, from which she counseled universities and colleges throughout the West, and on the Utah Sate Coordinating Council for Higher Education, Together with her husband of 47 years, Dot made major contributions to the Utah legal community as a leader of the Salt Lake County and Utah State Bar Auxiliary and as a Trustee of the University of Utah College of Law Alumni Association. Ever the gracious and gregarious hostess, Dot entertained scores of bar association functions and served as surrogate mother to multitudes of law students and young lawyers. Dot and Dave traveled and adventured. Together they journeyed to all of the world's major capitals and to its remotest outposts. In the mold of her angler father, Dot relished her many fishing trips to Alaska where she landed king salmon and halibuts almost as large as her imagination. Following Dave's death in 1997, Dot continued her travels, at home in the world, and had only days before her death returned from a trip to Chicago where she was serenaded by blues legend Buddy Guy. In the mold of her mother, Dot nurtured all things large and small in her ambit, her husband, sons, daughter-in-laws, and most recently her grand and great-grand children. Dot's grateful family will host a memorial Thursday, July 21st to commemorate and celebrate her life. The memorial will convene 11:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church at 12 C Street, followed by a reception at the Alta Club. In lieu of flowers, Dot's friends and colleagues are encouraged to make contributions in her memory to the Assistance League of Salt Lake City or the University of Utah College of Nursing.