Dorothy Elaine Mahan, 97 of Indiantown, FL passed away peacefully on April 7, 2023 at the Palms Nursing Home in Port St. Lucie, FL.

Dorothy was born May 17, 1925, the first of three girls of Fausten Guardian May and Lillian Cecelia [Schneider] May. Her wonderful mother Lillian was among the early women in America to own their own vehicle, a Hupmobile she bought from the Dealership she worked at and Fausten fell in love with in the church parking lot [along with Lillian].

Fausten was with the family construction firm of Aaron May and Sons and built the family's brick house on 316 Schley St, Cumberland, MD where Dorothy grew up in a nice neighborhood upon high ground with a panoramic view over the city. Her mother Lillian fed 'railroad hobos' who found out about the nice lady who cared about the masses displaced by the Great Depression. The family had to leave Cumberland because with WWII restricting private construction they had to move to the big city of Baltimore to start anew. Initially, they moved into the third floor of Lillian's mother and sister's house and the three girls gained a fourth 'sister' in cousin Mary Louise Hagel.

All three May girls were good students. While Irene (BA Goucher) and Patricia (PhD Harvard) were able to pursue higher education, Dorothy was caught in this moment of unexpected and unfortunate family circumstances. She had to abandon further schooling in order to take a job to help out, in spite of having had the highest student grade in her junior high school.

She worked the Front Desk of the Lord Baltimore Hotel until she was 18 when she went to work on the 3rd shift of the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company where, using her beautiful mind for math, she checked the work of sleep deprived estimators who built the B-26 Martin Marauder Bombers to fight WW II. She was the 'Office worker' version of 'Rosie the Riveter'. After the war, her father kept working in Baltimore while her mom and family found seasonal work at the Ambassador Hotel in Atlantic City , NJ. While 'at the Beach' Dorothy was 'Runner-up' in the Miss Margate Beauty Contest! Working the desk in the Hotel's exercise area, she befriended two visiting children of a separated wealthy New York couple who convinced her to come with them and their dad to their luxury Riverside Drive dwelling. Caring for them included bike rides along the Hudson River and outings with their mom, who kept her small plane near the George Washington Bridge.

Back in Baltimore, a regular bus riding acquaintance asked Dorothy to join her, her fiancée and his friend to come to a basketball game. The 'friend' eventually became her husband, Donald. After their marriage, they lived in an apartment near Johns Hopkins University. Early on Donald managed Rick's Raft Night Club in Ocean City, MD and Dorothy managed the Staff and started raising Jeffrey. Donald was in sales, a home builder and a restaurateur owning the Blue Bayou with the Kitchen Manager of the Kennedy White House as Chef. Dorothy managed a very successful gift store, Stem N' Wick, in one of the first "Malls" called Security Square. In the 70's and early 80's the owner of Woodlawn Cemetery capitalized on Dorothy's high mathematical acumen, having her handle all the finances in lieu of paying a 'man' considerably more to do so. Her beloved neighbors Ruth Swift and Betty Young contributed management and sales skills; as a team, they fairly much ran the place. The Cemetery was picturesque complete with a 'Monet' like scene featuring the Swans she came to love gliding around the gentle waterway which will be in view from the plot where Dorothy and Donald's ashes will be interred together later this year.

Aside from Dorothy's work endeavors she was involved in the community and, all the while, watched over her busy boys. Semi-retirement in Ocean City, MD led to retirement in Indiantown, FL complete with Donald's lifelong friend Larry Ricketts, he of the 'basketball blind date'. Dorothy cared about and got to know her wonderful neighbors in Indianwood to the point of providing biopics of scores of people who she crossed paths with. This endeared her to the community who early on voted her to the board and was later on viewed as a beloved elder neighborhood treasure. Through her nineties she kept active in body including playing on a Bocce team and active in mind playing cards and winning more often than not at Mahjong.

Recently, in her declining days she was visited by her sister, her sons and neighborhood friends she cherished. Her several aides whom she befriended were constantly at her side. Near the end she spoke a lot about her husband Donald, who was surely leading the greeting party in heaven where they have gained a smiling face who always had a kind word for everyone she ever met. She was a role model for us all to emulate and we loved her dearly. Though just a bit shy of 100, she clearly "won" the game of life.

Survived by sister Patricia Sekler of Cambridge, MA and Vienna, Austria, son Jeffrey S. Mahan of Annapolis, MD, his wife Wendy Herrick Mahan and grandson Patrick Mahan, son Mark C. Mahan of Annapolis, MD his wife Michelle Nunn Mahan and grandsons John Matthew Mahan and Mason Edward Mahan, nephew Gary Grill and his wife Susan, nephew Steven Grill and his wife Robin, and great and great great nephews and nieces.

Dorothy is preceded in death by husband Donald C. Mahan, sister Irene Grill and Irene's husband Richard Grill, brother-in law Prof. Eduard F. Sekler, nephew Bradley Grill

A Christian Church service will be held at the Episcopal Church of the Advent, 4484 SW Citrus Blvd, Palm City, FL 34990 on Tuesday April 18th at 10:30 am
Followed by a Luncheon Reception at Shaw Hall Community Center, Indianwood Community, Indiantown, FL

In lieu of Flowers, please donate to the Episcopal Church of the Advent at the address above. Thank you.