Dolores Ottenad

Dolores Ottenad, 94, passed peacefully on October 21, 2025, in St. Louis County. A devoted wife of 71 years, a mother, grandmother and great friend, she was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas in 1930 to Edward and Emelia Abel. Dolores was the youngest daughter and fourth of five children to grow up on a farm. After graduating from high school, Dolores began training as a nurse at the Lutheran School of Nursing in St. Louis. She then worked as an RN at Jefferson Barracks tending to wounded soldiers.

In 1949 she met William (Bill) Ottenad while he was visiting his mother at the hospital (Dolores was his mother’s nurse). Bill was a young aspiring CPA who had graduated from Washington University in St. Louis after serving in the Navy. They married in 1954. A background and experience with farm life and healthcare led Dolores to appreciate healthy organic foods for her family. Dolores enjoyed bird watching, so much that their home property was dedicated as a ‘bird sanctuary.’ Dolores and Bill were members of the World Bird Society, where they actively supported habitat conservation.

After retiring in 1986, Bill and Dolores traveled the world during the 1980s through the early 2000s, often visiting the Caribbean, Europe and even Russia 4 times. Dolores loved reading the paper everyday, including the Wall Street Journal and St. Louis Post Dispatch. In later years, Dolores and Bill attended many shows of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis with friends. Dolores has joined her 3 sisters Laura, Dorothy and Norma Lee in heaven and is survived by her son Mark, daughter Pamela, brother Edward and four grandchildren. Bill passed 3-1/2 days after Dolores, on October 25, 2025.

Contributions can be made in their honor to The World Bird Sanctuary or the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. To share a memory of Dolores or leave a special message for her family, please visit the guestbook below.