Mary Dormont Obituary

Jean passed away at age 87 on Friday, June 3, 2011 in Edmonds, Washington. She was born in Meridian, Texas on March 10, 1924, the younger of two girls to Earl and Chloris White. She graduated from Meridian High School in a class of 12 and began college at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She transferred to the University of Texas in Austin where she received her B.S. in only three years. She did an internship in Dietetics at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, where she met her husband, Richard Dormont. They lived in New Orleans, LA, and Cleburne, Texas, before moving to Minot, North Dakota, where they raised four children. Jean participated in many community, school, and church activities. She was a wonderful Girl Scout leader, gardened and did flower arranging, did her own ceramics, loved animals, and was well known for her gourmet dinner parties. When her children finished school she went to Minot State University and earned a B.A. degree in Art Therapy. She then joined the Oppen Center in Minot where she worked with many people she would remember fondly. After 35 years of marriage, she divorced and relocated to Colorado Springs where she continued with her Art therapy part time and earned her Life Master in Contract Bridge. She joined a Jungian therapy group, and another dedicated to writing Haiku. She believed in continuing education and never stopped finding new classes to explore. She also traveled to Greece to learn spinning and dying. Among her many travels she visited Europe, Israel, the Caribbean, Japan, Hawaii, and Alaska. She made her final move to the Pacific Northwest, from Colorado, to be near her daughters. Once again Jean made many friends at her retirement community and was well known for her bridge playing, her poems, her enthusiasm, cheerful attitude, infectious smile, and her many interests. She is survived by four daughters: Sandi Dormont of Mountlake Terrace, Wendy Dormont of Seattle, and Pam Samuelson of Shoreline, all in Washington state, and Penny Sterud of Loveland, Colorado; grandchildren: Eric Sterud, Nicole Samuelson, Samantha Samuelson, and Spencer Glushak. She was preceded in death by her granddaughter Briana Sterud. A small family life celebration was held in her honor. Please leave on-line remembrances at www.becksfuneralhome.com. You can also send contributions to the World Wildlife Fund or the Sierra Club in lieu of flowers.