Mrs. Dorothy ‘Dot’ Eunice Woodring Painter

Mrs. Dorothy “Dot” Eunice Woodring Painter, 99, of Dalton, passed away peacefully at Piedmont Mountainside Hospital in Jasper, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021.

She was born Feb. 25, 1922, to the late Lee Terrell and Pearl Mae (Key) Woodring in a log house in the New Hope Community in Ellijay.

She graduated Ellijay High School in 1940. After graduation, she worked her way through college at Wright’s Clothing Store and later Mary Withrow’s Dime Store where she met her husband Floyd J. Painter. She substitute taught at Cartecay School and Zion Hill Elementary in Gilmer County during World War II. This is where she realized that she wanted to be a teacher.

She married Floyd Aug. 4, 1943, after he returned home from the Navy where he served as a CB in the Southwest Pacific. They moved to Akron, Ohio, to do defense work at Firestone Textiles and was an inspector on the C-46 airplane wings.

They moved back to Georgia in 1944 and worked at Bell Aircraft in Marietta. She was the only woman in the plant who was a job foreman.

They moved to Detroit, Mich., in 1945 where she inspected ammunition for Gimmer Manufacturing Co. She stood at a table with 15 other women and inspected large shells. She went to the plant manager and requested chairs for the girls, which they received and were so grateful.

When World War II was over, they settled in Dalton, where she worked at Belk Gallant while Floyd built and sold houses and she finished her college classes. She attended several colleges along the way, but graduated from Piedmont College in 1946 while teaching at East Side Elementary, in Whitfield County. She worked there for 9 1/2 years teaching first grade, then transferred to Dalton Public Schools on Morris Street for the next 20 years. She retired at age 53 and was said to be the youngest to retire in the state of Georgia with full benefits, teaching a total of 31 1/2 years.

Dot and Floyd loved to travel and mainly took bus tours/group trips. They traveled to all states in the U.S., several providences in Canada and a European tour which included England, Greece, Scotland, France, Italy and Switzerland, just to name a few. The highlight of her travels was a Holy Land tour. She became a Christian at age 13 and always lived her life telling others about Christ. Dot and Floyd had been members of several churches, but proudly joined the First Baptist Church in Dalton, in 1983, where Dot remained an active and dedicated member until the pandemic in 2020.

She volunteered with the “Soul Food” ministry to feed the hungry, the bereavement committee and worked each Tuesday morning in the church library for many years. She was the oldest member of the First Baptist Church in Dalton at the time of her death.

She loved to attend the Dalton-Whitfield Senior Center. She actively participated in creative writing and yoga classes and loved to play Bingo and Dominos. She moved back to Ellijay in 2021 and was a resident at Manor Lake Assisted Living where she was dearly loved and embraced. She ate most meals with her new friends, and they called themselves “The Golden Girls.”

She is preceded in death by husband of 60 years, Floyd J. Painter (d. 2004); brother, Alvin H. Woodring (d. 1986); and sisters, Kathleen W. Martin (d. 2020) and Mary Nell Logan (d. 2020).

Funeral services were held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021, from the First Baptist Church Chapel in Dalton.

Music was by minister of music and worship Adam Cogliano and soloist Lisa Greg with past executive pastor Larry Flannagan and senior pastor Dr. Jonathan Barlow officiating.

Pallbearers were great nephews, Chad Painter, Brandon Gibbs, Mark Gibbs, Lee Woodring, Lee Logan, Christopher Bradley, Nathan Bradley and Garrett Martin.

Contributions can be made in her memory to Dalton Whitfield Senior Center, 302 Cappes Street, Dalton, GA 30720.

Condolences can be made at www.loganfuneralhome.com.

Logan Funeral Home & Chapel was in charge of arrangements.