Dorothy E. Lee, 84, formerly of Litchfield, died on Oct. 2, 2012, in Fort Myers, FL.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery where other family members are buried.
Ms. Lee was born in Litchfield on Feb. 17, 1928, the daughter of the late Robert E. and Alta M. Lee.
She graduated from Litchfield Community High School in 1946 and briefly attended Eureka College before returning home and working at St. Francis Hospital and then the Illinois Power Company. She wrote the narrative for Litchfield's Centennial Pageant in 1953.
In 1956, Ms. Lee left Litchfield to attend Illinois State Normal University, graduating with a bachelor of science degree in education. After teaching at Proviso East High School for three years while earning a master's degree in sociology from Northwestern University, she joined the faculty of Illinois State Normal University, which later became Illinois State University.
She went on to earn a doctorate in sociology from the University of Iowa and remained on the staff at Illinois State until her retirement in 1991 as Emerita Professor of Sociology. During her tenure, she chaired the department of sociology, anthropology and social work for six years. Nearing retirement, she served as acting chairman of the departments of history, foreign languages and political science.
Ms. Lee was a founding member and former president of the Illinois Sociological Society and a board member of the Midwest Sociological Society. She was a founding member of the New Covenant Community in Bloomington and a member of the All Faiths Unitarian Congregation in Fort Myers.
She moved to Fort Myers in 2002, having wintered there for several years following her retirement. She fulfilled a lifelong goal of writing after nine years of retirement and published four books, "The Revision" in 2001, "Under My Hat" in 2002, "Another Hat: A Sequel" in 2003 and "Of Sin and Blot: A Mystery" in 2005.
Ms. Lee is survived by a sister, Mary Roberta Lee Ross of Bloomington; three nephews, Ernest (wife Sally) Ross of Houston, TX, Robert L. (wife June ) Ross of Schaumburg and Jerry (wife Carol) Ross of Adelaide, Australia; and two great-nephews, Mark (wife Rebecca) Ross of Wheaton and Eric Ross of Schaumburg.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother and his wife and a brother-in-law.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to either church or to Dorothy E. Lee Endowment for Nontraditional Women Students in care of the ISU Foundation, Campus Box 8000, Normal, IL, 61790.
