Dorothy Ann Kellerman

Dorothy Ann Kellerman, 94, passed away peacefully of natural causes on May 30th 2020 in Prescott Arizona. Dottie was born on March 21, 1926 in Kalispell, Montana, and was raised in nearby Polson. She was the oldest of three children. She attended and graduated from Montana State University and then completed her masters in early childhood development at Kansas State University.

During the summers between collage semesters she worked as a fire lookout for the US Forest Service. She was assigned to Blue Mountain lookout just south of Missoula Montana. She was one of the first women in the country to fill this role. As she told it, all the boys were off fighting in WW II, so they needed lookouts and let a few girls do the job.

After graduation from K-State, Dorothy got a job teaching at the preschool run by Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. While there, she met her first husband, Ed Hindman. They were married in 1951 and had three boys, David, Larry and Paul. Ed had a son, Jim, from a previous marriage. The family settled in Prescott in 1956 where Ed taught school. Dorothy enjoyed an active life in Prescott raising her family and having a career teaching Kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary School for 25 years.

During her many years of teaching, Dottie was a positive influence for hundreds of children, first as Mrs. Hindman and then as Mrs. Kellerman. She will be remembered for her outstanding dedication for enhancing early childhood education, and for her embracing, gentle ways with her students.

Dottie was preceded in death by her first husband, Ed Hindman, in 1974 and her second husband, Harold Kellerman, in 2011. Dottie will be forever missed by her sons, David, Larry, and Paul Hindman, and her stepson James Hindman, whom she always considered one of her own. She will also be fondly remembered by her plethora of loving grandchildren, great grandchildren, and step children which include nine of Harold’s children; Carol, John, Susie, Sharon, Joe, Bob, David, Mary and Edward.

Dottie was a longtime member of the Eta chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, whose purpose is to unite and honor woman educators, and to advance their professional interests. She loved walking, ceramics, and playing cards. She was an avid reader and she took pleasure in retelling the stories of her boys many childhood escapades often to the annoyance of those same boys.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent in her honor to American Macular Degeneration Foundation.

https://www.macular.org/how-donate