Dorothy Arnold Rawles

Dorothy (Dot) Mae Arnold Rawles was born to Russian immigrant, Mary Atreshenko and U.S. Navy Serviceman, Otis Merriweather Arnold on August 8, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents met while Otis was stationed in China, where Mary and many of her family members had fled during the Bolshevik Revolution. Upon her father’s sudden death, her mother, sister Mary, and Dorothy returned to China where many of her mother’s relatives still resided.

Dorothy and her sister lived and were educated in a convent operated by French nuns for several years where she learned to speak Russian, French, Mandarin, and English. Upon the advent of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the family was evacuated by the U. S. Navy back to the United States. Dorothy spoke of a terrible typhoon during that voyage and said she and her sister had to be tied into bunks to prevent their injury.

After returning to the U. S. Mary met and married William Oliver Wooley and they settled in Oak Cliff. Dot attended public schools in Oak Cliff and attended college at U.T. Arlington.

Dot’s work at Eppler, Gerrin, and Turner as an executive assistant took her to Dallas where she met and married the love of her life, Richard Holland Rawles. They were married for sixty years until his death in 2014.

Dot held many jobs as an executive assistant, but her favorite was her years as executive administrator and meeting planner for Christian Medical and Dental Society where she made many life-long friends.

She was an avid tennis and bridge player and loved her church, Bible studies, Sunday School, and volunteering.

Her granddaughter, Elizabeth, remembers that Nana unashamedly had a crush on Tom Selleck as Magnum P.I.! Her grandson, Christian, remembers that she gave a “mean” foot rub and had a parrot named Cookie who loved scrambled eggs and bacon! Her granddaughter, Natalie, remembers Nana as her most avid and vocal sports fan who pretended not to notice it when Natalie cheated at Uno!

Dot and Dick loved to travel and had the opportunity to visit many countries around the world as well as own time shares in Hawaii and Cancun.

Dot is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Richard Holland Rawles, and her two grandsons, Matthew Christian Rawles and Nicholas Scott Lipscomb.

She is survived by her son, Thomas Rawles and his wife Cynthia, her daughter, Connie Rawles Lipscomb and her husband Scott.

She is also survived by three grandchildren, who knew her as Nana, Elizabeth Rawles Kindred and her husband, Andrew, Christian Rawles and his wife, Jackie, and Natalie Lipscomb.

She is also survived by four great-grandchildren Grace and Lily Kindred and Matthew and Noah Rawles.

Dot passed away on April 20 at Anthology Assisted Living in Denton.

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial gifts to:

Parkway Hills Baptist Church

2700 Dallas Parkway

Plano, TX 75093

A service for Dorothy will be held Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 10:00 AM at Parkway Hills Baptist Church Chapel, 2700 Dallas Pkwy, Plano, TX 75093.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Sparkman-Hillcrest.com for the Rawles family.