Dorothy J. Karpowich

Dorothy J. Karpowich, age 83, died on August 9, 2019 in Irvine, California. She was born in Putnam, Connecticut to Adele and Walter Jankot on February 23, 1936. Her older brother, Walter Jr., died when she was 3 so she was raised as the only child. After graduating as the Valedictorian of her Putnam High School Class, she then went to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland to study nursing. Eventually she attained her Master’s Degree in Surgical Nursing in New York City at Columbia University.

While nursing in New England Dorothy met her husband, Fred Karpowich, and they had a year-long courtship cross country before she moved out to California to be with him. A year later they got married back in Putnam, CT and their honeymoon was driving cross country back to California. She taught nursing at UCLA before having her two children, Karen and Debbie.

In 1967 she moved back to Massachusetts with her new family settling in Burlington. She eventually earned her PhD in Higher Education at Boston College while she was teaching nursing. She enjoyed visits with her parents and trips to Cape Cod the 10 years spent back in New England. She loved her husband’s extended family and spent a lot of time with them. In 1977 she moved back to California and her family bought a house in Irvine, where she lived for the rest of her life. She continued to teach nursing and her nursing jobs while taking care of her husband, Fred Karpowich, who died in 1993.

After a 30-year nursing career Dorothy retired at age 62 and spent time traveling early on and then spent a lot of time with her grandchildren, who she loved so dearly. The last 28 years of her life she got to see her grand-children grow up and she played a huge role in their lives, ever teaching and inspiring them to be the best they could be. She developed many life-long friendships with workers and graduate students at the University of California, Irvine, who stayed in her house.

In later years she loved taking care of her succulents and watching old movies. She was a heavy reader and on top of the news, reading her newspaper and going to the library. The last 10 years there was joy in her life filled with her daughters, grand-children, extended family, and friends. And Dorothy loved to be on Facebook to interact with family and friends!

She is survived by daughter Debra Dec, and her husband Michael Dec, from Dana Point, California, and their three children, Rachel Dec, Nicole Dec and Bryce Dec; and daughter, Karen Mattor, from Merrimack, NH and her two children, Zachary Mattor and Trevor Mattor.

A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, August 30th, at 2:00 p.m. at Pacific View Memorial Park, 3500 Pacific View Drive, Corona Del Mar, California 92625.