Dickie Graham Dutzi

1928 - 2020

December 6, 1928 - December 4, 2020 Dickie Graham Dutzi of Santa Rosa, CA died peacefully on December 4, 2020 in her lovely care home, surrounded by family and friends. Dickie is known for her many interests and achievements. She excelled in her academic life and was an avid reader, passing the passion for literature on to her children. She loved all kinds of music, played the piano, and had a beautiful alto voice which she contributed to church and community choirs. In her later life she often organized singing groups in her home. She was interested in the natural sciences, including birding, native plants, and geology. Social gatherings were important to her going to the beach with groups of family, friends, and neighbors; organizing parties with her long-time group of high school and college friends; and traveling with groups to interesting parts of the U.S. and England. She combined her delight in gardening, native plants, and social activities in her volunteer work with the Fullerton Arboretum. She enjoyed camping and driving trips to the desert and mountains, including her beloved Owens Valley, Eastern Sierra, and Mono Lake. She included her children in many of these activities trips to concerts, museums, bird refuges, walks, and going on pleasant drives with uncertain destinations. Dickie was born on December 6, 1928, in a hospital in Corona, CA. Her sisters, Dorothy and Patricia, and parents, George A. Graham and Loma M. V. (Tower) Graham, were living in Norco, CA at that time. The family moved to Anaheim, where Dickie attended Anaheim High School, excelling in her academics, acting in plays and musicals, and playing on the field hockey team. She attended Fullerton Junior College and eventually graduated from the University of CA, Santa Barbara, with a major in Speech. She did further training to obtain her elementary teacher's certificate. She married James V. Dutzi (deceased) of Anaheim, CA on August 13, 1950. They lived in the Richmond/Berkeley CA area, moved to Pomona, CA, then to Fullerton, where she lived for many years. They had 6 children: Mark Graham (deceased), Elisabeth Jean (Paul Carpenter), James Joseph (Judy), Patrick Nathan, Richard George (Meg), and Alexandra Susanne. She has five grandchildren: Christopher Clemons: Nathan, Caroline, and Matthew Dutzi; and Sarah Cole. She renewed her teaching certificate and for many years was a teaching assistant and elementary school teacher at Fanning and Country Hills schools in Brea, CA, eventually becoming a Master Teacher. After her retirement, she moved to Oakhurst, CA to live with her sister Patricia, then to Sun City/Menifee, CA to be near her son and daughter-in-law and extended family members with a long history in that part of California. She eventually moved to Santa Rosa, CA to be near her daughters. She will be much missed by her family and friends; her legacy will continue in the many memories and interests her children cherish. A celebration of her life will be planned for later in 2021.