Dorotha Giannangelo

January 18, 1922 - October 20, 2013

Pratt, KS ~ Dorotha Gray Giannangelo, 91, died Sunday, October 20, 2013 at South Wind Hospice House in Pratt, Kansas. She was born January 18, 1922 in Pratt, Kansas, the daughter of J. Rufus and Edna (Bement) Gray. She was a member of the Pratt High School Class of 1940, and Pratt Junior College 1942. She received her B.A. Degree from the State University of Iowa, Iowa City, in 1944, and did graduate work at Fort Hays Kasnas State University. She was an instructor in the Senior High School at Sigourney, Iowa, and two years at Pratt Community College. On 1947 she married the late Emil F. Giannangelo, D.D.S., and they made their home in Pratt. They were the proud parents of one daughter, Maria. She was an active member of the Pratt First United Methodist Church, and for many years a prominent leader of youth activities in the Methodist Conference and the Kansas District Y.W.C.A. She was the founding committees for Achievement Place Home for boys and served as President of the Pratt County Mental Health Association which brought the Horizon Mental Health Clinic to Pratt County; Literacy Volunteers of America and assisted to reading program in the elementary schools; and the Pratt High School Alumni Association Scholarship Committee. She was an active member of the Pratt Music Club, Chapter F of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, Pratt County Historical Society, Pratt Regional Medical Center Volunteers, Meals-On-Wheels, and an Honorary member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society of Women Educators. From 1971 to 1987 she was a member of the Board of Education District 382, and served twelve years as a member of the South Central Kansas Special Education Cooperative Board. She served twenty-two years as co-director of the Kansas Council On World Affairs Youth Tours escorting Kansas High School juniors and seniors on educational tours of Washington D.C. and New York City. She directed, wrote, and produced many community theatrical productions in the area, and enjoyed playing the flute in the community orchestra for numerous Pratt Community College muscials and concerts. For her work in the Kansas Congress of Parents and Teachers and the Pratt Jaycee Jaynes she was granted Honorary Life Memberships. In 1967 she was awarded the "Beaver Alumni Citation" for community leadership by Pratt Community College. In 1977 the Pratt Jaycees Awards Committee designated her as "Distinguished Woman of the Year." In 1986 she received the "Friend of Education Award" granted by educators of the Confidence in Kansas Public Education Task Force. The Pratt CofC Leadership class designated her "Servant Leader" in 2008. For one month each year, for twenty-five years, she and her husband served as Dental Volunteers in Christian Missions in the Philippines and numerous South American, Central American, and Caribbean countries. They assisted in the establishment of a dental clinic in the mountains of Guatemala and a Medical-Dental clinic for the people near Pout-au-Prince, Haiti. In recent years she volunteered at Pratt Regional Medical Center. Her interest in Pratt County history resulted in the publication of five books, an anthology, a monthly column in the Pratt Tribune on that subject, and twenty years of volunteer service to the Pratt County Historical Society. Her hobbies of crewel embroidery, reading, and flower gardening filled many pleasant hours. She was preceded death by her husband, her daughter Maria, and her sister Margaret York. She is survived by two nieces, Jane Louise Renze, Chicago, IL; and Ann Elizabeth York, Boston, MA; a grand-niece Ellen Meehan, grand-nephews, John Renze and Joseph Renze and families. Services will be private. Memorials may be made to the Pratt High School Alumni Association Scholarship Committee or Donor's Choice in care of Larrison Mortuary 300 Country Club Rd., Pratt, KS 67124. Condolences may be left at www.larrisonmortuary.com