Dorothy Jane Spear Walden

Mrs. Walden was born in Greeley, Colo., on March 17, 1916, to George Aubrey Spear, a banker, and Margaret Uzzell Spear, a homemaker. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated from Colorado State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Colorado) in 1938. Following graduation, she taught school at Ovid, on the Colorado plains, and at Climax, in the high Rockies. During World War II, she returned to Greeley, where she worked as the clerk of the local draft board. After meeting and marrying her husband at the end of the war, she moved with him to Virginia, first to Charlottesville, then to Salem, and finally to Roanoke, where she raised her sons, taught school, and lived the remainder of her life. Prior to her retirement, she taught English at Jefferson High School, where she chaired the English Department for several years and was selected for the Teacher Recognition Award by the senior class in 1963; Lucy Addison High School; and William Fleming High School. Dot was a member of Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church, as well as a 75 year member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood.
Mrs. Walden is survived by her son, David Lewis Walden of Atlanta, Ga.; her son, Thomas Spear Walden, his wife, Marguerite, and their sons, Michael, William, and Richard, of Asheville, N.C.; her granddaughters, Lauren Aubrey Walden, of Roanoke, and Robyn Leigh Walden, of Goodview, Va., and their mother, Christina Bailey Walden, of Goodview, Va.; her nieces, Jane Sanders Hunter (John), of Beallsville, Md., Margaret Jackson Smith, of Suffolk, Va., Judy Spear Weickum (Ron), of Cheyenne, Wyo., Jane Spear Hoyman (Bill), of West Des Moines, Iowa, and Janet Spear Deland (Jerry), of Mesa, Ariz.; her "adopted" granddaughters, Paige Edwards McPherrin (John Kelly), of Winnetka, Ill., and Dr. Elizabeth Edwards Turner (Russell), of Menlo Park, Cali.; and many other relatives and friends.
The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 5, 2010, at Oakey's South Chapel. Following a private interment service at Sherwood Memorial Park, a memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6, 2010, at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church with Dr. F. Tupper Garden officiating.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Presbyterian Community Center, 1228 Jamison Avenue, Roanoke, Va. 24013 or the charity of one's choice.
The family wishes to express its gratitude for the extraordinary kindness and devotion of Christine Proffitt and Mrs. Walden's other caregivers, and to thank all of the wonderful employees and residents at Brandon Oaks, where Mrs. Walden lived the last 13 years of her life, as well as her physicians and their staffs.
She nurtured her family, loved the mountains of Virginia and Colorado, laughed often, played a good game of bridge, and mastered the art of friendship.
Arrangements by Oakey's South Chapel, 540-989-3131.
WALDEN
Dorothy Jane Spear