DOROTHY WILLIAMS YOWELL was born October 19, 1919, on the family farm at 67th and Military Avenue in the Benson area of Omaha, Nebraska, to Victor and Margaret (Petersen) Williams.  She passed away Tuesday, May 12, 2009, at the Oakland heights Nursing Home in Oakland, Nebraska, at the age of 89.

In April of 1932 the family moved to a farm east of Herman, Nebraska, and Dorothy attended Kindred school.  She went on to graduate from Herman High School in 1937, and then attended Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, where she earned a teaching certificate. 

On July 12, 1941, Dorothy and Allan O. Yowell were united in marriage in Yuma, Arizona, and began their married life in a small apartment in Los Angeles, California, before spending time on air bases in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia during the war.  They made their permanent home in Herman where they raised three children, Vicki, Paige, and John.

Dorothy had a variety of employment experiences including teaching, working as an inspector at the Martin Bomber Plant which produced B-26’s during World War II, and filling the positions of clerk and Officer in Charge with the United States Postal Service.

Dorothy and Allan loved to travel and saw much of the United States on driving and bus trips.  Many of their favorite destinations were in Minnesota and Canada where they filled their days with fishing and relaxing on or by a beautiful lake.   She greatly enjoyed her children and grandchildren, but in her later years, nothing brought a smile to her face like an opportunity to show off pictures of her five great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 57 years, Allan, and her sister, Joyce Peck.

Survivors include her sisters, Betty Lane of Kingsburg, California, and Rita Lipps of Tekamah; her daughters, Vicki Beck of Placentia, California, Paige Peterson of Valentine, Nebraska;  son, John Yowell of Kent, Minnesota; eight grandchildren,  Lisa, Tracy, Brett, and Scott Beck; Aaron and Brock Peterson; and Alli Deemer and Kiley Johnson; five great-grandchildren, Trey Deemer, Reese and Reagan Johnson, and Presley and Max Peterson.

FUNERAL SERVICE: Saturday, May 16, 2009, 10:30 a.m. at Salem Covenant Church in rural Oakland.

VISITATION: Friday 1 - 8 p.m. with the family receiving friends from 6 - 8 p.m. at Pelan Funeral Home in Oakland. Visitation Saturday will be held at the church one hour prior to the service.

BURIAL: Herman Cemetery, Herman, Nebraska

MEMORIALS: Eastern Star Chapter No. 126, Herman, the Chatt Center, Tekamah, and Oakland Assisted Living.

Please feel free to send your condolences to the family.
Each condolence will be printed and given to the family after the service.

pelanfuneralservices@hotmail.com