Dorothy “Dot” Whitley Cawley of Huntsville, Alabama, passed away peacefully on July 6, 2020 at the age of 95. Dot was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on February 22, 1925. In 1942, she graduated from Tubman High School for Girls in Augusta, Georgia. During World War II, she worked at the US Army Augusta Arsenal where she met her future husband, Samuel Herschell Cawley of Augusta, Georgia, and they were married on October 3, 1944. They moved to Huntsville, Alabama in 1956 where they made their permanent home and raised their two children.
Both Dot and Sam were charter members of Lakewood Baptist Church and remained active in the church until their move in 1964 to Southeast Huntsville. They became members of Whitesburg Baptist Church where Dot was an active member of the Adult Choir for many years, a Sunday school teacher, and a Christian mentor to many young people who were blessed to know her and love her. She was a faithful servant of the Lord all of her life. Dot was an active member of the Huntsville community and for 33 years served as a volunteer at Huntsville Hospital and was a Legacy member of the Huntsville Botanical Gardens. She continued to be a faithful friend and neighbor to many until her passing.
Dot was preceded in death by her parents, Russell Whitehead Whitley and Ruth Humphrey Sikes; her son, Samuel “Sonny” Herschell Cawley, Jr; two brothers, Vernon Whitley and Donald Whitley; and four sisters, Edith Propst, Frances Brill, Betty Berry, and Virginia Johnson. She is survived by her husband of 75 years, Samuel Herschell Cawley; her son, David Wayne Cawley (Jennifer) of Temple Terrace, FL; her daughter, Donna Cawley Kirby of Brentwood, TN; granddaughters, Marisa Massey (Corey) of Columbia, TN, and Leslie Johnson (Jody) of Nashville, TN; and great-grandchildren, Maclyn Massey and Tucker Massey of Columbia, TN.
The family would like to express their utmost gratitude for the excellent care provided by the Acts Community at Magnolia Trace, especially the many wonderful nurses, caregivers, and staff who give so much to their residents and families.
A private family service will be held at Valhalla Memory Gardens in the Chapel of Love Mausoleum.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Huntsville Botanical Garden, where God’s wonder and beauty abound, 4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35805, or to Whitesburg Christian Academy, where all God’s children are our future, 7290 Whitesburg Drive, Huntsville, AL 35802.
