Dorothy Louise Martin Storey

Dorothy Louise Martin Storey, 91, wife of the late Louie Watson Storey, passed away peacefully on Saturday, January 16, 2016 at Fellowship Home in Valdosta GA. Dorothy was born in Atlanta GA on March 6, 1924, the second daughter of the late Frederick Roger Martin and Cora Turner Martin of Columbia SC.
In the early 1930s, Dorothy moved with her parents and two sisters to the Western Heights area of Atlanta. It was there that she met Louie, who became her life-long best friend and loving spouse of 73 years, marrying on December 23, 1939. With the outbreak of WWII, Louie enlisted in the US Marine Corps and Dorothy joined him, living in San Diego until the war's end in 1945. After WWII the couple returned to Atlanta, living and raising their family in the Kirkwood and East Lake neighborhoods before moving to Tucker in 1965.
No matter what neighborhood Dorothy lived in, she was always an active member of her church congregation, faithfully serving in the Sunday school programs and women's organizations of Western Heights Baptist Church in the 1940s, Kirkwood Baptist Church in the 1950s, and Tucker First Baptist Church from the 1960s until her 2015 move to Valdosta.
After raising two children, Dorothy began her career in Atlanta as an office administrator and bookkeeper, first in 1964 with Artistic Ornamental Iron Works in Kirkwood and later with the Brainard-Kilman Drill Company in Tucker, where she worked for twenty-plus years from 1968 until her retirement. Because Dorothy and Louie were wed soon after his graduation from Commercial High School and WWII intervened, Dorothy was unable to complete her high school education. Although she never openly lamented the fact, she always intended to remedy it; thus after raising her children and working for several years, she steadfastly completed the requirements for her GED certificate, which she proudly received in 1982.
Dorothy loved to be with her children and their families and was always the happiest when visiting them or having them visit at their home in Tucker. She loved to garden and work outdoors, maintaining a large yard and garden well into her eighties. In her sixties and seventies, a long-held desire to paint compelled her to take art classes. She bloomed as an artist, creating many oil paintings which are cherished by her family.
Dorothy is survived by her two children: her daughter, Nancy Storey Barrett of Valdosta, GA and her son, John Martin Storey and wife Barbara of Taylors, SC. She is also survived by her five grandchildren and ten great grandchildren: Ansley Barrett Sparks, husband Brian and their children Gabrielle, Aiden, Zachary, and Amelia Sparks of Easton, PA; Paran Barrett Davis, husband Allen and children, Gracie Howard, Sebastian Davis, and Savannah Davis of Adel, GA; Emily Storey Hess, husband Jim and their daughters Hannah, Sophia, and Emma Kate Hess of Waxhaw, NC; Matthew Clement Storey and wife Tianna of Kingsport, TN; and Caitlin Storey Hunter and husband Marshall of Greenville, SC. In addition to her parents and husband, Dorothy was preceded in death by her sisters, Myrtice Martin Miller of Columbia, SC and Mildred Martin Thoming of Portland, OR; and a son-in-law, Hubert Eugene Barrett, Jr. of Valdosta.
The family wishes to thank the staff of Atria Senior Living in Tucker, GA where Mrs. Storey lived for four years and Fellowship Home in Valdosta, GA where she lived since September 2015. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate memorial donations be made to First Baptist Church of Tucker (5073 Lavista Road, Tucker, GA 30084), St. Giles Presbyterian Church (1021 Hudson Road, Greenville, SC 29615), Trinity Presbyterian Church (3501 Bemiss Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602), or Alzheimer's Association Georgia State Office, 41 Perimeter Center East, Suite 550 Attn: Dave Houston, Atlanta, GA 30346
A memorial service will be held on Friday, January 22, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. in the Magnolia Room of the Carson McLane Funeral Home Valdosta, Georgia with the Rev. Frank Gupton officiating. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Friday from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. Condolences may be conveyed online at www.mclanecares.com.




Funeral Home:
Carson McLane Funeral Home
2215 North Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA
US 31602