Dorothy Malone Yates

Dorothy Malone Yates (nee Dorothy Jane Malone), age 95, passed away peacefully on December 29, 2015, at her home in Atlanta. She will be remembered for her generosity, humor, kindness, competitive spirit and what friends and family recognized as “the model of determination, grace, and poise.”

Dorothy was born on September 11, 1920, in Cincinnati, Ohio. When she was six weeks old, her parents, James Comer Malone and Emma Josephine Kirkup Malone, moved to Atlanta, and she always considered herself a native to the city.

Dorothy graduated from North Avenue Presbyterian School (now The Westminster Schools) and received a degree in music and voice from Sweet Briar College in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1942. Her love of music and the arts was reflected in her lifelong commitment to cultural institutions in and around Atlanta. From 1946-1966, she served on the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Auxiliary and worked to bring theater and puppetry arts to schoolchildren throughout the city. Dorothy also loved tutoring children in reading at Sarah Smith Elementary. In the 1960s, she was chair of the Metropolitan Opera Guild in Atlanta. She has also been an avid patron and supporter of The Atlanta Opera.

On May 20, 1944, Dorothy married Charles Richardson Yates, and they enjoyed sixty-one years of marriage before he passed on October 17, 2005. A noted amateur golfer, civic leader, and successful businessman, Charlie (as he was known to friends) always referred to Dorothy as “my bride” and readily admitted that he “outmarried himself.”

Dorothy was dedicated to her community and believed in service above self. Her deep commitment to helping others touched so many lives. She was active in the Atlanta Junior League, Emory Hospital’s volunteer association, and the Emory Committee for The Robert Tyre Jones, Jr., Scholarship Program and the Sweet Briar Alumnae Association. She and Charlie were longtime members of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, where she sang in the choir, was an enthusiastic supporter of the music program, and was instrumental in the design and planting of the church grounds.

Dorothy and Charlie had four children: Dorothy Yates Kirkley, Charles Yates, Jr., Sarah Yates Sutherland, and Comer Yates. All have made their homes in Atlanta. She was proud that her four children have carried on the family tradition of civic involvement with numerous Atlanta organizations.

Dorothy had many friends, notably “The Friday Ladies,” a group that has been together since World War II. She loved spending time with friends and family playing golf, bridge, and backgammon, and fly-fishing. A fierce competitor, she often won whatever she played. She was still riding horses into her eighties and took a riding trip to Montana at the age of 86.

In addition to her family and music, Dorothy’s other great passions were gardening and the environment. Her home featured her beloved orchid greenhouse and a Japanese garden. She was a member of the Druid Hills Garden Club. A founder and Lifetime Trustee with the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Dorothy helped to grow the membership base and then to establish “Forget Me Not,” the Garden’s planned giving society. To recognize her many contributions, the Botanical Garden named the Dorothy Yates Garden for her and honored her years of service as one of the “Seeds of the Garden” at the 2011 Garden of Eden ball.

Dorothy was predeceased by her husband, Charlie; her sisters Mary Malone Martin of Wilmington, Delaware, and Carolyn Malone Carpenter of Atlanta; and her brother, James Comer Malone, Jr., of Birmingham, Alabama. She is survived by her sister, Dr. Sarah M. Schulz of Marianna, Florida; her four children and their spouses (Dorothy Yates Kirkley, Charlie and Mary Yates, Comer and Sally Yates, and Sarah and David Sutherland); seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

The family would like to express their sincere appreciation for all the devotion and attention so lovingly given by her caregivers and helpers Robin Law, Lillian Smith, Brad Ruger, Kathi Pond, Catherine Lewis and the late Jimmy Crawford and the many doctors and nurses for their expert care and compassion.

A memorial service and celebration of Dorothy's life will be held at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church at 4393 Garmon Road, NW, Atlanta, GA 30327 on January 6, 2016, at 11 o'clock with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Dorothy’s memory may be made to St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, The Atlanta Botanical Garden, or The Atlanta Opera.