Harriet “Dorothy” Milner of Poplar Bluff, passed peacefully with family by her side Saturday, July 30, 2022, at The Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau. Two months shy of her 101st birthday, she was born Oct. 1, 1921, the eldest of three children to Walter and Mary (White) Malcolm in Liverpool, England. Dorothy was baptized, confirmed, and retained her affiliation with St. Michael’s Catholic Church.
As a young woman, she met the love of her life, George W. Milner, a G.I. from Doniphan, Missouri. in 1944. Despite vowing to never marry a “Yankee,” she bravely followed her heart, and they married on July 6, 1946, relocating to his hometown and later to Poplar Bluff. George preceded her in death Aug.7, 2002. She was a homemaker in her early adult life and later was a proud employee in the Medical Records Department of Lucy Lee Hospital for many years.
Dorothy is survived by three children, James W. (the late Cindy) Milner and George M. (Sally) Milner of Poplar Bluff, and Mary L. (John) Caldwell of Cape Girardeau. Her surviving grandchildren are Julie Littles, Johnna Milner, and Kim (Paul) McBride of Poplar Bluff, Jan (Charles) Wooten of Hillsboro, Kerry (Joe) Kennedy of Dexter, Kelly (Bobbi) Mayse of Naylor, Hillary Caldwell of Dublin, Ohio. and Meredith Caldwell of Nashville, Tennessee. Surviving great-grandchildren are Avery, Marin, John Thomas, and Charlotte Wooten, Jace and Quin Littles, Kolyn and Sidney McBride, Kaeden, Kinley and Kain Kennedy, and her nephews, Brent (Peggy) Milner of Pacific, Missouri, and Louie (the late Theresa) Milner of Doniphan.
Dorothy was predeceased by her husband and his siblings, her parents, her siblings: Vera O’Sullivan and Walter Malcolm, and daughter-in-law, Cindy (Donnellan) Milner.
Visitation will take place from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at Cotrell’s Willow Ridge Funeral and Cremation Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. The service immediately following will be officiated by Pastor Ron Watts of Cape Girardeau. Interment will take place in the Sacred Heart Catholic Cemetery. Memorials are preferred to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 825 Vine St., Poplar Bluff, MO. 63901 to benefit the food pantry or cemetery, and to La Croix United Methodist Church, 3102 Lexington Ave. Cape Girardeau, MO. 63701.
The family offers their deep gratitude to the caring staff of The Lutheran Home, Assisted Living and Lutheran Hospice for the compassionate care provided to Dorothy in recent years.