Dorothy Bruce Gandy

Dorothy "Dottie" Jean Bruce Gandy

June 15, 1940 - December 27, 2022

Dottie was born in Waco, Texas in 1940 to Cathryn Rumsey Bruce and Basel Hiram Bruce. Dottie was proud to be an identical twin and she and her twin sister Nancy graduated from Waco High School in 1958 and went on to attend Baylor University. Dottie graduated from Baylor in 1962 with a BA in Communications. She loved debate and was the Southwest Conference Debate Champion while at Baylor. She met her first husband, J. Donald Cook, while in college. After graduating she and Don married and moved to Washington, DC where she proudly worked as a personal secretary to US Senator Ralph Yarborough (D-TX). During this time, she had the life-changing experience of attending Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Their daughters, Kelly and Rebecca, where born in 1968 & 1970 (respectively) in Washington, DC and the family later lived in the DC suburb of Arlington, VA.

In her lifetime, Dottie had highly successful careers as a corporate executive, business owner, consultant, keynote speaker, and author. She started her first company, Job Market, in 1973, to help other women find jobs and careers. That was followed by her partnership with Denise Cavanaugh, forming Cook-Cavanaugh in 1974. In 1975, as an avid supporter of women in business, she co-founded NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) which today has thousands of members with chapters across the country.

Later she was a corporate executive for 10 years with Giant Food, Inc. in Washington, DC, a Fortune 500 food retailer, where she administered 16 of the company's labor contracts.

After moving back to Texas, she became the regional director for the Franklin Covey Company in Dallas and continued her relationship with that organization for more than 20 years.

In 2001, Simon and Schuster published Dottie Gandy's first book, 30 Days to a Happy Employee: How a Simple Program of Acknowledgment Can Build Trust and Loyalty at Work. Dottie and Marsha Clark are the co-authors of Choose! The Role That Choice Plays in Shaping Women's Lives (Brown Books Publishing, September 2004).

Dottie was involved in too many groups to mention them all, but she was especially proud of starting 3 groups that became the most important to her: (1) The Dalai Mamas, a group of 7 Unity women dedicated to spiritual and prayer support of other Unity members, their friends and families. (2) "Up to Something", a networking and mentoring group whose members chose to be intentional about designing the lives they wanted. (3) The Gazebo Group, a group of 7 people Dottie brought together as the pandemic spread, dedicated to supporting one another with many Zoom meetings and gatherings at Dottie's neighborhood gazebo. This group became instrumental in helping Dottie through the final months and days of her life with daily visits, phone calls and texts to keep her from being alone. These groups have all made a difference and continue to make a difference - something Dottie was most proud of.

She re-connected with her college friend, Tom Gandy, in 1990 and they married in 1991. She was with him until his death in 2017. Through the last five years of his life, he suffered from Alzheimer's disease. Dottie kept him at home, as his primary caregiver, until he died. Through this experience she became actively involved with caregiver support groups and gave speeches on the subject to various groups.

For more than 30 years she was active in the Unity Church, first in the DC area and then at the Unity Church of Dallas. She served as a board member and long-time volunteer. Dottie taught classes, provided Sunday messages and acted as platform assistant through the years.

She found joy in many things but what she considered her greatest title in life was that of "Grandottie" to her four "extraordinary" grandkids: Mike, Chrissy, Alex & Collin.

Dottie was generous in every part of her life and continued that generosity in death by following her mother in donating her body to science through the UT Southwestern Willed Body Program. Her late husband Tom was also inspired to do the same as a result of Cathryn's generous choice.

Dottie was preceded in death by her parents Cathryn & Basel Bruce, her twin sister Nancy Ardean Fite and her husband Thomas Gandy.

She is survived by daughters Kelly Cook Newman (Kyle) & Rebecca Cook Wallace (Robert) and grandchildren Alex & Collin Newman and Mike & Christina Lopinto, and stepson Brad Gandy.

She is also survived by her sister Kathy Bruce (Jay Fermaglich), nephews Ben & Sam (Amanda), great-nephews Braylen & Ezra, niece Kristin Brumm, her children Andy & Dan, nephew Rich Brumm (Audge) and his son Trevor (John Weege). In addition to family, she leaves behind many close friends including her best friend of 28 years, Jan Belcher.

Everyone is invited to attend the celebration of life service for Dottie Gandy at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 5, 2023, at the Unity Church of Dallas (6525 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX). There will a reception immediately following the service in the fellowship hall. In lieu of flowers, you are invited to donate to the Alzheimer's Association (ALZ.org) or Allen Community Outreach (acocares.org)