Dorothy Riddlemoser Obituary

Riddlemoser
Dorothy Marie (Blut) Riddlemoser
September 22, 1922 - March 3, 2018
Dorothy was born on September 22, 1922 to Frank and Mary (Huelman) Blut in Early, Iowa and passed away in Denville, New Jersey after a long and full life. She will be remembered as the eldest of the beautiful and accomplished 'Four Blut Sisters' of Sac County, Iowa, and as a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, teacher and community volunteer.
She attended Mount Saint Mary's College in Westwood, CA, and graduated from Briarcliff College in Sioux City, IA, where she learned to comport herself properly and to keep her un-ladylike exploits hidden behind a twinkle in the eye and a Mona Lisa smile. Her photographic memory helped her graduate with honors, and, in her prime, as a well-traveled 'Army Wife', allowed her to recite the Lord's Prayer in three languages, English, Latin and German. It is possible that she was also praying in Mandarin, although it is more likely these words meant something else entirely.
The Blut sisters, Dorothy, Mary, Frannie, and Barbara each married a young officer from Ft. Carson, Colorado, their tours of duty around the world often overlapping. Dorothy and the late Frank Riddlemoser married on June 4, 1950, and are survived by three children, Robert of Boulder, CO; Cindy Lindhorn (Tim) of Silver City, NM; and, Cathy Michael (Curt) of Rockaway, NJ. Her grandchildren, Matt, a software consultant, and Justin, a jazz musician, are the reason her twinkle continued to flicker into her final hours.
Dorothy was a woman of many accomplishments and perhaps most important was her ability to talk - even in her early years as a teacher, talking down a troubled, knife-wielding student before anyone was harmed; comforting a grieving, motherless child; soothing a dying companion. She would often be found talking to the plants and flowers in her garden, many of them named after friends and family members from whose gardens they were transplanted. Mary Riddlemoser, her mother-in-law, gifted her with a lily which traveled from Frederick, MD to Colorado to Taiwan to Wisconsin to Oklahoma to Germany to Washington to ..., always responding to Dorothy's prompting.
Her sons-in-law received the benefit of her words as well. Dorothy once convinced the manager of Bain's Department Store to open early so her hippie daughter's fiance could buy a sport jacket and tie for a morning job interview. (He got the job). And, thanks to her practical advice, the marriage proposal to her younger daughter was duly delivered (he got the girl).
Her children are amazed that after her retirement from teaching children of all ages, from Kindergartners to high school seniors (sometimes in the same classroom), Dorothy's cooking skills improved from opening MRE's and tins of Spam and corned beef hash to producing gourmet meals. These recipes are gathered into a family cookbook and will be enjoyed for years to come. Also, at the age of 88, she bravely conquered the strange world of New Jersey, collecting many new friends and duplicate bridge partners. In fact, she was a bridge shark, perfecting a move that came to be known as 'the Dorothy lead'.
Many of Dorothy's favorite moments were spent going for rides, whether on her father's sleigh in the snows of Iowa, or the lush Highway 1 in California, where she sped along in her son's convertible Fiat X19, under a scarf protecting her (greatly admired) teased and sprayed bouffant hairdo.
Dorothy will be laid to rest at St. Mary's Cathedral in Colorado Springs, CO.