Dorothy May

1929 - 2021

Dorothy May
May 9, 1929 - May 24, 2021
Raleigh, North Carolina - Dorothy Muriel May passed away on May 24th, 2021. She was born to Elmer Smith and Bernice Abbott Smith on May 9th, 1929 in Shiawassee County, MI. Elmer was a farmer and Bernice taught school. The family soon moved to Saginaw County, MI where her brother David was born, and Dorothy attended Primer school in a one room schoolhouse. They then moved to Ingham County, MI, eventually settling in Williamston, MI, when she was 8, and where Dorothy attended Williamston, HS. She graduated from high school in 1947 and entered Michigan State University. In 1951, she graduated with a major in education.
At college, she met Richard Edwin May of Irvington, NY and they married on August 18th in Williamston United Methodist Church shortly after her graduation in 1951. Richard continued at Michigan State to obtain a Masters in Mathematics, while Dorothy taught first grade, initially at Bath Elementary School and then at an elementary school in Lansing. They moved to Akron, Ohio in 1953, when Richard took a job with Goodyear Aircraft. Their first son, Paul Joseph, was born in January of 1954.
In 1955, Richard took a job with IBM and they moved into a small house in the Bradley Village subdivision of Poughkeepsie, NY. In January 1958, their second son, Phillip Andrew, was born. Two weeks later, they moved into a new house on Pilgrims Progress Rd. in the town of Rhinebeck, NY. Beginning in 1960, Dorothy began to be active in politics, eventually rising to vice chair of the Dutchess Co. Democratic Party. Once Phillip was attending school, she began substitute teaching, including a stint at the Astor Children's Home. The family moved to a new house in Rhinebeck on Wolcott Drive in 1968. That year she took a full-time job teaching second grade at North Park Elementary School. She taught there until retirement in 1982. Although kidded about never having graduated second grade, nearly all the students she taught graduated with reading scores well above grade level. Through her will, determination and love, her son Paul attended Brown University and became a Professor of Anatomy, and her son Phillip attended University of Michigan and became a Chemical Engineer. She has four grandchildren; Phil's: Emma and Zak and Paul's: Julian and Katie.
After her retirement, Dorothy and Richard relocated to the Stonebridge subdivision, in Raleigh, NC. In Raleigh, Dorothy became active in the League of Woman Voters and in the Woman's Club of Raleigh. She and Richard took up golf and became enthusiastic golfers. In May of 2009, Richard passed away and has been sorely missed. To fill her time, Dorothy became a dedicated Hurricane's Hockey fan. In 2015, she moved to Croasdaile Village, in Durham, NC. Throughout her life, her outgoing Midwestern ways served her well, allowing her to make many, many friends. As she quipped on turning 92, "She had done darn well for a depression era farm girl," and she had touched innumerable lives for the better along the way.