Dorothy Pettit

DOROTHY PETTIT

Independence

Dorothy May Pettit,

81, of Independence, died Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015,

at the Northbrook Manor Care Center in Cedar Rapids.

Dorothy was born on Nov. 12, 1933, in Oelwein, Iowa, the daughter of James and Eva (Bailey) Leverington. She was a 1952 graduate of Maynard High School in Maynard, Iowa, and then attended Gates Business School in Waterloo with her twin sister, Doris, both graduating from the secretarial school. Dorothy worked for Farmers Bank in Waterloo for several years, then followed her sister, Doris, to Washington, D.C., and became employed with the Department of Labor. On May 28, 1959, she married Robert E. Pettit in Washington, D.C., and shortly thereafter the couple returned to Independence and made their home. Dorothy was a homemaker until later in life when she returned to work as a switchboard operator and later in the laundry department at MHI in Independence until her retirement in 1998. In 2010, Dorothy moved to Marion to live with her son, David.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Bob, in January 2005; an infant daughter, Linda; an infant granddaughter; and an infant sister, Mildred.

Dorothy is survived by seven children, Mark Pettit, Cedar Rapids, Claire (Tim) Atwood, Marion, Bob (Denise) Pettit, Mechanicsburg, Pa., Margaret Wood, Independence, David Pettit, Marion, Donna Pettit, Independence, and Paul Pettit, Waterloo; 10 grandchildren; one great-grandson; her twin sister, Doris Ambrugey, Gladstone, Mo.; and a sister, Mary Ellen Carlson, Odgen.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Triumphant Church, Independence, with Pastor Amber Hudson officiating. Burial will be in Mount Hope Cemetery, Independence. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the Reiff Funeral Home & Crematory in Independence.

To leave an online condolence, please go to www.reifffuneralhome.com under obituaries.