Dorothy Sutton Gaither

Funeral services for Dorothy Sutton Gaither are at the First United Methodist Church in Thomasville on Saturday June 4th at 11:00 a.m. Mrs. Gaither passed away early Tuesday morning, May 31st, 2011 at her home in Athens, Georgia. Born July 12th 1927 in Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, the third of three children, her parents were Otto and Franciska Bergmann Sutton of Annapolis, Missouri, where she was reared with her sister Wilma and brother Glen. She married James C. Gaither of Fulton, Mississippi, on March 2nd, 1947, and they lived near Des Moines, Iowa, and Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, before settling in Thomasville, Georgia, with their four sons in 1957. She worked for many years for the Office of Civil Defense, which became the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where she was able to help people who needed food or shelter because of natural disasters, before retiring in 1980. She was preceded in death by her husband and her brother and sister. Her family members include her sons and daughters-in-law Jim and Barbara Allen of Watkinsville, Georgia, Bill and Suzanne of Cary, North Carolina, Bob and Penny of Houston, Texas, and John and Cassandra of Athens, Georgia; and grandchildren, Jeff Gaither of West Lafayette, Indiana, and Claudia and James Gaither of Athens, Georgia. She is also survived by many in-laws, nieces and nephews who were dear to her, and her friend Phyllis Hudgins. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 975, Thomasville, Ga 31799 or to a local homeless shelter. Friends and family can sign the online guest register at www.allenfh.com