Dorothy Frances Jones Vandenberg

1928 - 2015

Dorothy Frances Jones Vandenberg

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Dorothy Frances Jones Vandenberg passed away on September 13, 2015 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. She is deeply loved and missed.

Dorothy was born July 16,, 1928 in Butte, Montana to Franklin Pierce Jones and Dorothy Goodwin Jones. She attended St. Lawrence grade school and Butte's Central High School, graduating in 1946. Dorothy was in the very first group of female students to attend Carroll College in Helena, Montana, earning her Nursing degree in 1949.

In 1952, Dorothy moved to Seattle with a friend and began working as a registered nurse at Columbus Hospital. She met her future husband, medical student Jim Vandenberg, in an elevator there. He got the courage to ask the beautiful young nurse out for a movie date (they saw "The Robe"), and they eventually married in 1954, beginning their 61-year love story. She and Jim enjoyed years of travel, hiking and backpacking in the Cascades, the Sierras (climbing Mt. Whitney twice), and the Dolomites in Italy.

Dorothy was a sweet, devoted mother to her seven children. Later she went back to work alongside her husband in his Burien dermatology practice for many years until they retired in December of 1998.

We are so honored and blessed to have witnessed their loving marriage and to have known her kind and sweet nature. She imparted her strong Catholic faith to all seven of her children, who love and thank her for it.

Dorothy is survived by her husband, Jim; her seven children- Tess, Jim, Sue, Dotty, Jane, Elise and Peter, and their spouses; 23 of her 24 grandchildren who will dearly miss their 'Oma'; and two great-grandchildren, Jack and Vera.

Dorothy is also survived by her siblings Elise, Philip, Rose and Mary Jo, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, and her grandson Matthew.

Dorothy/Frankie/Mom/Oma ~

we miss you already,

and love you so much.

Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00am on Friday, September 18th, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Federal Way, with rosary preceding at 10:15. Burial at Gethsemane Cemetery.