Mrs. Dorothy “Dottie” Carol Clevenger, 77, of East Galesburg, Illinois passed away peacefully after a long battle with cancer at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, at her son’s home surrounded by her family.
Dottie was born November 23, 1946, in Avon, Illinois to Everett and Evelyn Mae (Manlove) Sorrells, the sixth of eight children. She grew up on farms in Fulton County and attended both Valley and V.I.T. High Schools, graduating in 1964.
She married Donald McDorman and had their son Michael and later divorced. After the divorce she was an exceptionally hard-working single mother. She later married Gary L. Clevenger on April 4, 1989, in East Galesburg.
She worked at JCPenney in Galesburg for a number of years in the catalog department, and moved from downtown to the Sandburg Mall when they opened in 1975. She also worked at F&M Bank, Galesburg Collections and Dick Blick/Alsto Handy Helper, and was last employed as a PMR at the East Galesburg post office.
There were many things she enjoyed in life including gardening, fishing, mushroom hunting (she actually enjoyed hunting them more than eating them). She was the biggest St. Louis Cardinals fan and actually won a radio contest because she could list every year that they won the World Series attending countless games including many opening-days at Busch Stadium. She used to enjoy going to garage/yard sales, auctions and tag sales. She was always on the lookout for a good bargain. Her family claimed she was a wonderful cook, “She could take an old shoe and make it taste good”! She always had a very positive attitude due to her strong faith and was a long-time member of the East Galesburg Community Chapel.
She was an incredible mother to her only son, Michael and grandmother to her three granddaughters, but had a special bond with her middle granddaughter Erin. She was a wonderful cook and enjoyed teaching that to her son and granddaughters. She was especially thankful that she lived long enough to meet her great granddaughter Camryn and great grandson Colt. Her eyes lit up just watching them play.
She leaves behind her husband of over 35 years, Gary, her son Michael and his wife Chrissy, three granddaughters Jayme (and Jared) Brown, Erin (and Christopher) Berzel, and Jenna McDorman, along with two great grandchildren Camryn and Colt Brown. She also leaves to cherish her memory her brother Randy Sorrells and many other family members and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Bill, Gary, Donnie and Mike, and her sisters Marilyn and Shirlee, along with her special dog Zoe.
Visitation is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday, July 12, 2024, at Hinchliff-Pearson-West Funeral Directors and Cremation Services Galesburg Chapel. A funeral service will follow at 4:00 p.m. at the chapel with Rev. Danny England officiating. Cremation will follow the funeral service. Memorials may be made to the Knox County Humane Society. Online condolences may be offered at www.h-p-w.com.
