Dorothy Henderson Ralston
Dorothy Henderson Ralston, 100, of Oakmont, and formerly of Butler, passed away Sunday at Longwood at Oakmont.
Born Sept. 2, 1915, in Pittsburgh, she was raised in Indiana and Meadville. Dorothy's life stretched across the 20th and into the 21st century.
She was the daughter of Robert A. Henderson and Jean Bruce Henderson. Dorothy's maternal grandfather, Robert Bruce, was a drummer boy in the American Civil War.
Dorothy was born before the United States' entry into World War I, and she had vivid memories of the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression and World War II. She graduated from Meadville High School in 1933 and Allegheny College in 1937. Before her marriage, she worked as a research assistant to Dr. Chester Darling, professor of biology at Allegheny.
Dorothy loved nature and the outdoors and read a wide range of fiction and nonfiction. She always encouraged her children to read widely and think independently. Dorothy was an active member of the Town and Country Garden Club, the Butler Country Club, an excellent bridge player and a founding member of the Butler Little Theatre.
She married Dr. Robert J. Ralston, a Butler dentist, in 1940. Dr. Ralston predeceased Dorothy in 2001.
Dorothy is survived by three children, William Ralston of Stonington, Maine, Bruce Ralston and his wife, Ruth, of Penn Township and Diane Kemp and her husband, Rick, of Butler Township; and two grandchildren, Emil Kemp of Butler Township and Stefan Kemp of London, England.
RALSTON — There will be no public visitation or funeral service for Dorothy Henderson Ralston, who died Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016.Contributions in her memory may be made to the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, 185 Airport Road, Butler, PA 16002.Arrangements are being handled by the Thompson-Miller Funeral Home, 124 E. North St., Butler.
