Dorothy M. U’Ren

Obituary

Dorothy Mae U'Ren, daughter of Lafayette and Regina U'Ren, was born January 11, 1926, in Fairfax, Minnesota. Dorothy graduated from eighth grade at St. Andrew's School in Fairfax, and graduated from Franklin High School in 1943. She moved to the Bay Area of California to contribute to the war effort by doing civilian work at Standard Oil. After the war, she worked at Pacific Bell of San Francisco, attaining the rank of staff accountant.

Throughout her life and upon her retirement, Dorothy volunteered to care for the needs of the elderly poor in her neighborhood and her parish, where she was a volunteer member of the Laurentian Institute, research for and about aging. She also looked after her siblings in Minnesota.

Dorothy enjoyed winter sports as well as golf and tennis. She was a true fan of the San Francisco 49ers and the Giants, as well as, an avid sponsor of the San Francisco opera and symphony. Dorothy travelled extensively to Europe and in the United States. She frequently drove, then flew, home to Minnesota to see her siblings and their families, all of whom captured her interest. Dorothy was a life-long member of the CCW, the Serra Chapter of the Good Shepherd; and, more recently, the Third Order Sisters of Divine Providence.  

In 2002, Dorothy, seeking the beauty of landscape and slower pace of life, returned to Minnesota, residing in Sleepy Eye, where she became a member of the Third Order of the Sisters of Providence. She died at Divine Providence on July 17, 2019, at the age of 93 years. Blessed be her memory.

Dorothy, the last of her generation, will be greatly missed by nieces and nephews and their children's children scattered around Minnesota, California and Nevada, who remember her interest in us and recall her active involvement in and manifest devotion to her nation and church.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, Lafayette and Regina U’Ren, and by her siblings, the infants, Maybelle and twins, Raphael and Lafayette, and by Evelyn (Lloyd) Erickson, Harold (Ruth), Tom, Thelma (Alex) Barthel, Marian (Ben) Nelson, Edsel (Lucille), Kenneth, "Corky" (Janet) and Leone (Bill) Balbach.