Dorothy Alice (Ennis) Eichelman

Dorothy Alice (Ennis) Eichelman passed peacefully on March 18, 2021. Dorothy was born in Baltimore, Maryland to the late Thomas J. Ennis and Dorothy Ennis and attended the Institute of Notre Dame in Baltimore, from grades 1 through 12, graduating with the class of 1952. While in high school she played the violin and wrote poetry which was often published in the school newspaper. She initially attended the Nursing Program at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore from 1952 to 1953, then worked for John Deere, and later as a secretary for Loyola Blakefield from 1955 to 1957.

Dorothy married her high school sweetheart, Bill, in 1957 and moved to Germany, where her husband was a Captain in the U.S. Army. During those two years they resided off base in Oberwerrn, a small, medieval farming village where she had her first two children, before returning back to the U.S. to settle in Baltimore, Maryland. They had three more children while living in Hamilton and after moving in 1968, continued to raise their family in Catonsville.

Dorothy was active as a homemaker and was a Den Mother for two years for Pack 456 at St. Mark's Parish. She enjoyed piano playing, drawing, painting, quilting, needlework and sewing, and made many of her own dresses and outfits for herself and her children. She was also active in the IFCA (International Federation of Catholic Alumni) for many years.

Dorothy attended Catonsville Community College School of Nursing and graduated in 1976, becoming a registered nurse at the age of 42. She enjoyed caring for others and was especially drawn to the field of geriatrics. After graduation, she worked as an RN for one year at both The Rosewood Center and Montebello Rehabilitation Center, followed by her tenure at St. Joseph's Nursing home from 1978 until 1991.

Dorothy enjoyed domestic and overseas travel. In 1998 she moved to Eldersburg, MD where she enjoyed a more rural lifestyle which included tending to a variety of farm animals and even took up spinning wool at the Carroll County Farm Museum. It was during the time that she wrote her memoirs, which she self-published as a book, "I Remember When - A Baltimore Memoir" which tells of her life growing up in Baltimore during the Great Depression and the World War II years.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, Charles William (Bill) Eichelman, and her parents, Thomas J. and Dorothy Ennis. She is survived by her five children, William G. Eichelman (Karen), Kathleen M. Anderson (Stephen), D. Alice Readmond, Thomas E. Eichelman (Helen), Robert C. Eichleman, her sister, Mary Joan (Ennis) Vito, eight grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.