Dorothy Hadley Utley

Dorothy Hadley Utley was born in Mattoon. She was the daughter of Bertha Estell and Jesse Hadley. She attended elementary school there and two years at Mattoon High School.

Dorothy worked as a domestic and baby-sitter early in life. She moved to Danville, where she met and married a professional musician. To this union was born one son. She moved to Champaign, Illinois with her son in 1942, where she was employed at the Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois and established a permanent home. In 1949, she married a Serviceman, Rubavent Utley. He passed away in 1984. During those years, she worked as an Elevator Operator at Robeson's Department Store (for one year) and for as a Waitress at Katsina's Restaurant (for fifteen years). She retired from this position in 1984. Dorothy's career as a volunteer began in 1962 when she served as a Nurse's Aide at Mercy Hospital for a year and at Burnham City Hospital for fifteen years. She also served as Assistant Supervisor in Central Supply at Burnham Hospital.

Her need and willingness to serve as a volunteer intensified after her husband's death and proved to be good therapy for her grief. She became involved with the Retired Senior and Volunteer Program, serving on its Advisory Board. She has also served on: Champaign County Health Care Consumer's Task Force, the Medicare 100 Program, The Pharmacy Watch Program, Champaign-Urbana Economic Partnership, American Cancer Society, Campaign for Better Health, Center for Women in Transition, Children's Home and Aid Society, Head Start, Family Service, Habitat for Humanity, Stevick Senior Center, Provena Behavioral Health, and the United Way, among others. She was a Life Member of the American Legion Post #559. Her hobbies were cooking, sewing and reading.

Dorothy Hadley Utley passed away on July 18, 2002.