Dorothy Powers Obituary

POWERS, Dorothy

Dorothy Koenig Powers, 94, of Victoria Estates, Atlanta, passed away on October 8, 2021, surrounded by her loving family and caregivers. She is survived by her second husband Erl Dordal, her children Carl and Vicki, her grandchildren Emma, Ann, and Molly, and extended family.

Born in 1927 in Bilaspur, India, the youngest of five children of missionary parents, she graduated from the hill station Woodstock School in Mussoorie in 1944. She attended Elmhurst College and the University of Chicago, completing an MSc in bacteriology in 1953. She married James T. Powers of Anniston, AL, and the couple moved to Atlanta, where from 1954 to 1956, before the births of her son and daughter, she worked as a researcher at the CDC in Doraville. The family later lived in Jacksonville, FL, and in Short Hills and Princeton, NJ.

She was active in the League of Women Voters for over 30 years, serving as First Vice President of Finance; and also served two terms as the Chair of the New Jersey Hospital Rate Setting Commission. In the mid-1990s, she and her husband moved back to Atlanta to be close to their grandchildren. Several years after Jim's sudden death at age 70, she found love again, and married Dr. Erl Dordal, a resident of Chicago.

Dorothy will be remembered for her intelligence, charm, generosity, and unfailingly sweet disposition. She was well read, well-traveled, and well loved. Donations in her name to Doctors Without Borders, Environment Georgia, and USA for UNHCR are welcome. A celebration of her life will take place on December 4.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Oct. 17, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for Dorothy Powers

6 Entries

Anne Dordal

November 3, 2021

Our world became brighter when we met Dotty the summer of 2002. She and my FIL were the only singles on a trip to Sicicly and they found each other at 75 years of age! We celebrated the joining of our families and seeing the joy and comfort that each of them brought to each other. Dotty's love of life, travel, the world, books, gardening, and so much else will always be an inspiration. She will be sorely missed.

Barbara Engelhardt

November 3, 2021

My sincere condolences to the family of Dorothy Koenig Powers Dordal. Dorothy was a "double cousin" to me. Her mother Rose Baur Koenig was sister to my mother, Martha Baur Koenig. Her father, John (Uncle Hans) Koenig was brother to my father, Hermann Koenig. Although Dorothy and her siblings grew up far away in India, our families remained very close in those early years. Dorothy and her brothers and sisters were always welcome at our house in Chicago, especially when they in turn went to the University of Chicago. My sister, Anita Koenig Fussell was closest in age to Dorothy. She passed away in 2018. In her later years "Dotty" and Erl attended several of our Koenig/Baur family reunions. She was a wise and beautiful person with a kind and generous heart. I mourn her passing and all of her generation who made such an important impact on the worlds in which they lived. My sympathy goes out to all of her family and those who loved her.

Joyce Kelly

October 25, 2021

Dottie Powers, Mother of my closest friend, modeled a window beyond the Jersey suburbia we shared. As President of the League of Women Voters she wasn't at home the way my Mother of 6 was. She had outside achievements and grew up outside the U.S. I was in awe of her as a child and teenager and this didn't diminish as an adult. Her intelligence and elegance we're only rivalled by her warmth and the respect she gave everyone. When she told me about meeting Erl, she gushed like a young person with a first crush as she stood on her back deck and imagined him visiting there soon. I realized that undercurrent of happiness was the steady state she was returning to after losing Jim.
Visiting with Dottie through so many life stages has enriched me immeasurably. I'm grateful for her lifetime of contributions and also for her daughter and granddaughters, who continue to nourish lives.

Priscilla Smith

October 18, 2021

Dear Dotty made everyone she knew feel as if that friendship was special (and it was). She kept a keen sense of humor, a passion for social justice, and compassion for her fellows throughout her whole life.

I count myself as very lucky to have spent the time with her that I did.

I miss her.

Georg & Tina, Moenchengladbach, Germany

October 18, 2021

In loving memory of a wonderful person.

Kevin McFoy Dunn

October 17, 2021

She was at once one of the most formidably accomplished and one of the most sym-/empathetic persons I have ever known, and always showed to me and mine, as she did to all I saw her interact with, the greatest of kind consideration. For me, I can say without conditional or subjunctive, her memory most certainly is and will be a blessing.

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