Dorothy J. "Dot" Lambert

Dorothy J. "Dot" Lambert

Dorothy J. "Dot" Lambert, of Crozet, died on Tuesday, October 5, 2010, at Martha Jefferson Hospital after a brief illness, surrounded by family. She was 92.

Dot was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, where she met Robert S. "Bob" Lambert. They were married in 1941 and moved to Mississippi where they lived for forty years in Jackson, Clinton and Brandon. They moved to Charlottesville in 1982 and Bob passed away in 1984. Dot moved from Turtle Creek to the Meadows in Crozet in 2003.

Dot is survived by two daughters, Brenda Lambert and her lifetime partner, Jim Shea, of Charlottesville, and Barbara Lambert and her lifetime partner, Carol Bratton, of Stanardsville; six grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren, including Geoffrey Howard and his wife, Juliet Casanova, of Columbia, Maryland, and children, Felicia, Turner, Ronan and Cambric; Ginger Howard of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and children, Aaron and Julie; Julie Shea Gallinat and her husband, Jeff, of Hong Kong, China, and children, Adam and Amanda; Laura Shea of Charlottesville and children, Joseph and Colleen Shea-Hackett; Emily Shea Zarbatany and her husband, Paul, of Charlotte, North Carolina, and son, John; Amy Shea and her husband, Mike Gangloff, of Ironto, and children, Tycho and Willa; and nieces and nephews, including special nephew Phil Lambert of Stevensville, Maryland.

During a long, distinguished career as a department store executive in Jackson, at a time when few women held such positions, Dot earned a reputation as an innovative marketer, well-known throughout the state for her television commercials. She left retail sales in the 1970's to host a popular tv talk and interview program. Among the many celebrities she interviewed were Ronald and Nancy Reagan, B.B. King, Bob Hope and Nelson Rockefeller. She was among the first to offer "shopping at home" on television.

Dot left television in the mid-1970's to serve four years as Mississippi State Director of Travel and Tourism.

She was a member, often an officer, of many business and professional organizations and was once named Mississippi Advertising Woman of the Year.

Since her "retirement" in 1980, Dot has been well-known as an organizer of tours and trips for seniors. She was active in the Charlottesville-Albemarle AARP, the Crozet Lions Club, the Charlottesville-Albemarle P:ilot Club, the Charlottesville and Crozet Women's Clubs, and she was a longtime ardent supporter of the University of Virginia women's basketball team.

She attended First Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville and, since 2003, she attended Tabor Presbyterian in Crozet.

A memorial service will be held 1 p.m. Wednesday, October 27, 2010, at Tabor Presbyterian Church in Crozet.

The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to honor Dot's life can make a donation in her name to Virginia Organizing, 703 Concord Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22903, the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, 3355 Berkmar Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22901, or to a charity of choice.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.