Dorothy C. Pollock

Dorothy Clara Petersen was born November 27, 1916 in Otter Creek Township,Crawford County, Iowa. Her parents, of German descent, were Fritz (Frederick) and Clara (Grill) Petersen.
Dorothy’s early duties were many on the farm with her five sisters and three brothers. She attended country school graduating from eighth grade in 1931. She was active in 4-H where she learned not only traditional agricultural and domestic skills, but what it meant to engage education of head, heart, hands, and health. She was an excellent sketch artist and enjoyed scrapbooking, through which she kept an excellent history of her family, and did this from age 10 until her death.
Dorothy prepared to transition to “town school” in Denison by having to take a special exam to prove her country education was equivalent to that of the town kids. Ultimately, she did not attend high school due to her conservative parents’ idea of what a woman’s role was to be. Consequently, after 8th grade graduation, she became a babysitter and nanny for several families in Denison. She enjoyed dancing and attended dances with her brothers and sisters around the Denison area.
In 1937 she met Raymond Pollock at one of the dances and they were married in November 1938. Two sons were born to this union Robert Raymond (1939) and Glenn Charles (1942). Ray and Dorothy farmed together as tenant farmers on farms near Schleswig, Manilla and Vail. In 1955 they bought a small farm near Vail where she resided until her death on January 24, 2017.
Dorothy loved to garden both vegetables and flowers and to watch birds. She especially enjoyed wild flowers of the prairie and woodland. Last year, she was excited to see an eagle building a nest near her home.
Dorothy was a caregiver for everyone who needed a little extra help in the neighborhood. She also loved to host events in her home for her neighbors and church friends--you would not leave her house feeling hungry. She enjoyed keeping up with current events both local and national and loved to read. She often surprised people with her knowledge of world events. We were surprised when she got her first driver’s license around the age of 60 and recently had it renewed when she was 98.
Dorothy was an artist. She loved to explore the junkyard. Upon finding interesting pieces of metal, she would add a little paint and turn it into a work of art. She had a talent for making quilts and rugs out of scraps of cloth. She had a deep appreciation for family traditions and heritage, visiting cemeteries to not only care for graves, but to remember the many people who touched her life.
One cannot describe all she did in her 100 years and the lives that she touched. She was able to see first hand a few of the lives she impacted when hundreds of family and friends traveled from near and far to honor her at her 100th birthday party last November. She said she did not need this party but we know how much she loved seeing and visiting with everyone that came to share in her special day.
She is survived by her son Glenn; daughter-in-law Mary; granddaughters Lori and Lanette; great-grandchildren: Brianna and fianc Nick; Brooke, Brandon; and Meghan. She is further survived by her brother Melvin and his wife Marcella, sister-in-law Nellie, many nieces and nephews and many dear friends. The special care from and time spent with her niece, Mary and family friend, Rick is deeply appreciated. Preceding her in death were her parents, her husband Ray in 2003; son, Robert in 2009, two brothers and five sisters.