Dorothy “Dottie” Ludella Brooks Hilchey of Huntsville, Alabama, 94, died peacefully on March 6, 2021, just after visits from her children and grandchildren. Dottie was the last child of six born to Lena Farmer Brooks and Oscar Brooks in Brantley, Alabama, on November 10, 1926.
Her father died when she was just two months old, and the family struggled as tenant farmers during the Depression. Dottie spoke frequently of growing up at this difficult time, but rarely about the back-breaking toil of picking cotton. Instead, she focused on the light and love generated by a tight-knit family that sang, read the Bible, gardened, canned food, and welcomed visitors (including itinerant Black laborers). She looked up to and adored her older siblings. In a self-published booklet, she described how Vernie, Elsie, Gladys, Travis, and Margaret each left the farm and found their way in life as loving and hard-working homemakers, community volunteers, employees, or business owners.
At 17, while working at her uncle’s shop in Columbus, Georgia, she met Lt. John Duncan Hilchey, a strange-talking Yankee from Massachusetts stationed at nearby Fort Benning. In their early courtship, John won the Brooks family over by attending church with them and standing out in the choir with his booming tenor voice. They married in Luverne, AL, in 1945 and moved to Little Rock, AR, where John had been stationed. After the war, while John was getting his Ph.D. at Cornell University, Dottie worked at the Cornell Veterinary School laboratory and saved enough money to buy their first car, a Studebaker Champion. They later moved to Yonkers, N.Y., where John worked at the Boyce Thompson Institute and their two daughters were born: Susan Dorothy and Nancy Rebecca. Their third and last child, Duncan Luther, was born in Framingham, Mass.
Fortune shined upon the young family when John received an offer of employment in 1962 with NASA in Huntsville, Alabama. This move allowed Dottie to be closer to her family. Dottie’s life in Huntsville was very active. While raising the children and keeping a neat and welcoming home, she sang favorite songs and created gorgeous gardens. She adored and nurtured her children, and often their friends, too. She also cared for her aging mother, mother-in-law, and John’s aunt. She was very involved in the Episcopal Church of the Nativity, including its choir, Bible study, and service guilds. During the early 1960s, she participated in anti-segregation marches and declined to move to “white only” lines. She volunteered with the PTA, Meals on Wheels, and other community organizations. Her favorite charity was Habitat for Humanity because, as she once wrote, “a house can be a home at any age.”
She followed John into local theater activities, enjoying set decorating and other behind-the-scenes activities. A social butterfly, Dottie loved hosting cast parties for Huntsville Little Theatre and birthday parties and neighborhood holiday parties. Her favorite get-togethers were the periodic Brooks Family Reunions. These were festive opportunities for the Brooks brothers and sisters and their extended families to catch up, reminisce, and enjoy potluck meals.
Dottie also loved to travel and spent time with family and Yankee friends in New Hampshire every summer at the family camp, “Blue Havens,” near Governors Lake in Raymond. She traveled with her church choir to England and spent a few vacations in the Caribbean. But her favorite destination was Hawaii, with its comfortable climate, fascinating culture, and fun and generous people. Another highlight of her life was taking flying lessons, which she found so exhilarating. Over the years she wore out several Polaroid cameras documenting and sharing her life, adventures, and family moments.
Dottie often reflected on her life with friends and family and in her writings, being thankful for having come from a loving and generous family and marrying a man who introduced her to so many new things. In turn, she was grateful and very generous, finding joy in making others happy and comfortable. Her kindness and hospitality are legendary. No one left her home at 512 Seaborn Drive without some food, gift, or family treasure she wanted to pass along. She once wrote, “Every morning I feel gratitude and promise to be a blessing to everyone I meet.”
Dottie leaves behind her two daughters, Susan Hilchey (husband Bob Gagnon) of Raymond, NH, and Nancy Hilchey Bates of Decatur, AL, and son Duncan Hilchey (wife Amy Christian) of Ithaca, NY. She will be deeply missed by Nancy’s sons Joel (wife Jessica Thompson and son Jonathan) and Daniel (children Willem and Elora), and Duncan and Amy’s son Jack Hilchey. She was predeceased by her husband Dr. John D. Hilchey, her siblings, son-in-law Johnny L. Bates, grandson Tom Hilchey, and many cousins and dear friends.
In lieu of flowers, she requested donations to the Music Department at the Church of the Nativity (208 Eustis Ave., Huntsville, AL 35801) to purchase choir music; Habitat for Humanity (400 Pratt Ave. NW, Huntsville, AL 35801); or a charity of one’s choosing.
A memorial service and interment at the Church of the Nativity memorial garden and in the Hilchey plot in Raymond, NH, will be held when we can gather safely.
Condolences may be sent to Duncan Hilchey, 295 Hook Place, Ithaca, NY 14850
