Dorothy Elizabeth (Brockmeyer) Woodall was born in Baltimore, MD, a city of white marble steps, blue crabs and the Baltimore Orioles. The day was March 29, 1929 and she was given the name of Dorothy Elizabeth Brockmeyer, though, for the most of her life she was known as Dottie. She had a younger brother also named Raymond.
Dottie was a country girl by heart who never asked for much and seemed content with whatever she had. She lived pretty simply but family was important to her. She, along with her mom, dad, and brother were part of a large extended family. At one point when she was growing up, she lived in a converted chicken coop. Then at age 17, she met and married Lucien William McCandless, better known as Mac. She literally “flew the coop”! They were together for 25 years and had three children: Darlene L. (McCandless) Ferris, Linda D. (McCandless) Matthews and Gary W. McCandless. The family moved from Baltimore to Central Florida, first Leesburg then Orlando. There are 7 grandchildren: James Ferris, Kimberly (Ferris) Ewing, Eric Pratt, Timothy Ferris, Erica (Pratt) Davis, Christina Ferris and Megan Matthews. There are also 9 great grand kids from that union: Jaime Ferris, Sidney Ferris, Dallas Ferris, Vincent Ferris, Christopher Ferris, Jackson Davis, Jacob Davis, Chase Ferris, Jillian Davis and Kameron Ewing. Later Dottie married Roy Woodall and helped him raise his son, Robert, where they lived in western New York state for many years until moving to outside of Ocala. Robert had a daughter, Rebecca Woodall, and sons, Brandon Woodall and Billy Woodall and one grandson, Blake Sharp. Dottie was a loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.
As a young mother she spent her time caring for her family and later transporting the kids to their practices and other activities. She once drove a used police car but her family’s favorite was her red ’67 Pontiac Le Mans convertible! Dottie worked for many years as a server then later as a bartender in both Leesburg and Orlando. She was very good at her job and once received such a large tip that management had to send her home! She worked at the Squire Restaurant, Montes Restaurant and the Villa Nova, to name a few. Many happy customers would remember her from the Apple Grove Inn in Medina, NY. Dottie lived a beautiful life with many extended family and friends and left all of us with wonderful memories.
Dottie enjoyed doing many handcrafts, putting together jigsaw puzzles and playing cards. She loved watching the birds and small animals outside her home. Over the years she had many cats and dogs. Many of us recall Shep, Franscois, Flash, Mikey and Lucky. Some might not know that for a time she even raised chickens and once had a Pot-Bellied Pig who at one point was living in the house!!
Dottie had a knack for growing things and had many beautiful gardens throughout the years. Now she will be walking through the enchanting gardens of heaven. One week before her death, her family gathered together for her 88th birthday. Now her heavenly family will be celebrating the life of Dorothy Elizabeth (Brockmeyer) Woodall!!!