Dorothy Leahe Mehling

Dorothy Leahe Tolley Mehling ("Dot"), 85, passed away peacefully after a short illness in Asheville NC on Monday, December 15, 2025. She was born in Hot Springs, NC on March 26, 1940, to George Clayton Tolley and Edna Jane Moore Tolley, and she spent most of her life in Black Mountain, NC. She was a 1958 graduate of Charles D. Owen High School in Swannanoa, NC.
In the late 1950's and early 1960's, she was a soda-jerk at the Black Mountain Drugstore (now Black Mountain Hardware). After she got married, she was a homemaker for most of her life, but she worked at Black Mountain Middle School in the mid 1970's. She was a substitute teacher, taught remedial reading, and had a lasting impact on numerous students. She loved cooking, reading, Shakespeare, gardening, music, and animals, especially dogs, and had a special love for horses. She made holidays extra special when her children were growing up. She was creative, extremely intelligent, had a wicked sense of humor, and was extremely generous and welcoming to everyone, even strangers.
Dorothy had an interest in people from other countries, as well as their traditions and cuisines. She loved her family more than anything else, and she kept lifelong friends. Even at the time of her death, she still had friends from when she was a child. She and Lew DeWitt from the Statler Brothers exchanged letters for many years and formed a special friendship after she met him at one of their shows. She was the inspiration for the song "A Little Farther Down the Road" that he wrote for their 1979 album.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 44 years, Gary Paul Mehling, who passed away in November 2005 and her daughter, Teresa Lynn Mehling Suwwan, in March 2025.
She is survived by her daughters, Cynthia Dawn Mehling of High Point, NC, Kimberly Mehling Norton (Greg) of Swannanoa, NC, and Jennifer Mehling Twitty (Charles) of Asheville, NC; her brother, David C. Tolley of Fletcher NC and her sister, Sheila Tolley Blair of Naples, FL; 9 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren, several nieces and nephews, her beloved dog Mika, and her bird Andy.
A service to celebrate her life will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2026 at 11:00am in the chapel of Harwood Home for Funerals in Black Mountain, NC. The family will receive friends following the service and at the home of Dorothy Mehling.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Brother Wolf Animal Rescue or to a charity of your choice.