Obituary: Dorothy Rownd Meers, 95, formerly of Bardstown
Dorothy Rownd Meers, 95, of Rockwell, Texas, formerly of Barsdtown, died Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, and peacefully entered into the presence of her Lord and Savior. She was Dot or Dottie to her friends, but simply Grandma to family.
She was a railroad worker’s daughter, born in a railroad camp car on a railway turnout in Boyce, La. After her parent’s divorce, she and her brother, Lee, lived in the boarding house her grandmother ran in Hammond, La. Upon completion of two semesters of college at Southeastern Louisiana State University, she followed her brother to Kentucky, where he was stationed after joining the Army. There she lived with her new sister-in-law, June Meers Rownd and her sister Lois.
During World War II, she worked at the U.S. Post Office in Louisville. While living in Louisvillle, she learned she loved playing softball, listening to big band music, dancing the jitterbug, and learning to cook more than cornbread. She also met June’s older brother Claude before he was deployed to the South Pacific. Although she was not impressed with his immature behavior, she wrote to Claude often to help keep his spirits up as part of the War effort.
Three months after Claude’s return to the states, they entered into a marriage which lasted 53 years until he died.
His career in the bourbon industry brought the family to Bardstown. She supported her husband in his new career and became an active member of the community. She learned to play bridge, turned her sewing skills towards the making of beautiful quilts, learned to appreciate the occasional glass of wine or bourbon cocktail, and she became an avid fan of college basketball. She became an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Bardstown where she sang in the choir. She was a member local Bardstown Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and a member of the Women’s Auxiliary where she supported blood drives and other efforts that required her help. She was a member of a women’s only and a couple’s bowling team. She was co-founder of the Bardstown Senior Citizens with her longtime best friend Rosie Brauch and was their volunteer bookkeeper. She worked with several other women in the Bardstown Presbyterian church to support Bellewood Presbyterian Children’s home by making quilts that each child could call their own and take with them.
After her husband’s death, she downsized to a smaller one-story home and lived alone in Bardstown another 14 years. She continued to quilt, read, and participate in her normal daily activities with friends, visit her son and his children in Louisville and visit her daughter and her children in Rockwall, Texas, each winter. She also visited her sisters-in-law and their children. She enjoyed watching basketball, drinking that occasional glass of wine, and dance if she could find a willing partner.
After experiencing health issues that would keep her from living alone, she moved in with her daughter and son-in-law in Rockwell, Texas. It was a blow to some in the Bardstown community because she had lived there 47 years, and in that time she had acted as a mother, grandmother, loyal friend, and a shoulder to cry on or just an ear to listen for many members of the community.
Once in Texas, she did not slow down. She took care of her dog, Smudge, walked him twice a day, continued to quilt, read, watch basketball, help cook, help clean, drink wine, do all the daily puzzles in the newspaper. She did the family’s laundry because as she put it, “she wanted to earn her keep”. She was also dedicated to keeping track of old friends and family.
A series of strokes partially paralyzed her and forced her to spend her last three years in a nursing facility. This, along with COVID-19, kept her partially isolated from family for most of a year. Once the facility was reopened, she was able to visit with her great-granddaughter Mazie twice in 2021. The visits from the “baby” were always a highlight.
On Feb. 1, 2022, she suffered another major stroke. Over the following days, she slowly slipped away from the bonds that held her here on Earth and on the morning of Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, she took her last breath with her daughter at her bedside holding her hand. She was beautiful, smart, brave, funny, out-spoken, a kind, loyal friend, a loving mother, outstanding grandmother, and had and unwavering relationship with her Lord and Savior.
She was preceded in death by one son, Claude P. Meers; her husband, Claude E. Meers; one brother, Lester “Lee” Rownd; her parents, Leslie Lee Rownd and Irene Inez Bell Rownd; her grandmother, Phearby Ann Hodges Rownd; and one grandson, David G. Yarbrough.
She is survived by one daughter, Carrie Ann Yarbrough (Mark); one nephew, Brian Edward Meers; one niece, Dr. Suzanne Alicia Meers (Brian Waldner); two grandsons, Joshua Perry Yarbrough and Matthew Curtis Yarbrough (Lindsey Newhall); and one great-granddaughter, Mazie Scott Newhall-Yarbrough.
The graveside service is 10 a.m. Monday, March 7, 2022, at the Magnolia Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Magnolia, Kentucky.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Bellewood Presbyterian Childers Home, www.BellewoodandBrooklawn.org.
The Houghlin-Greenwell Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
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