Dorothy Rose B. Monks

Dorothy Rose Berry Monks was born June 9, 1924 to Georgia Ruth (Thornton) Berry and Samuel Berry in Gadsden, Alabama. She died August 25, 2024 in Jemison, Alabama. When she was a child, she would help her mother make caramel cakes for her father. The first recipe she learned to make on her own was cornbread, a recipe she passed down to her grandchildren. While a teenager, Dottie Rose, as she was known by her family, developed a love of music that lasted her entire life. She played the organ in church, clarinet in her high school marching band, and piano as she got older. Ultimately, she graduated from East Gadsden High school in 1942. When World War II started, Dottie Rose worked at the Goodyear Factory and eventually made gas masks. After the war, she moved to Atlanta and studied nursing at Grady Hospital. After completing her training at Grady, she transferred to City Hospital in St. Louis where she gained more extensive training in the operating room. She worked at several hospitals in Birmingham before she joined the Air Force in 1951, during the Korean War, where she was stationed in San Francisco and Alaska. She discharged in 1953 as a first lieutenant and frequently joked that she outranked her husband, John Carlton Monks. As a nurse, she traveled the United States, which instilled a love of travel for the rest of her life. When she was 31 and Carlton was 36 they married on Saturday, October 29, 1955. They remained married 44 years—until his death in 2000. Together they had 3 children. While raising their children, she continued to work as an Operating Room Nurse and later the Recovery Room Supervisor at Lloyd Nolan Hospital. One of the Monks’s favorite activities was spending time at their home on the Tennessee River where they hosted friends and family. When asked what her greatest accomplishment was, she stated “being a grandmother—they’re all so precious.” Throughout her life Dottie Rose enjoyed reading, music, singing, watching movies, basketball, baseball, and most importantly Alabama football. Her Christian faith was also of upmost importance to her. She regularly attended church services, read her Bible, and enjoyed singing hymns. She also delighted in listening to big band music from the 30s and 40s— and even did the jitterbug in her younger days. At the age of 100, Dottie Rose reveled in listening and singing along to music. Dottie Rose kept a journal of important events throughout the years so that she would not forget significant dates in her life. One of her favorite monthly errands included going to the Hallmark store to purchase cards for her loved ones for that particular month. She had a fondness for all holidays, but Christmas was particularly a special time when she would prepare her famous punch and have “Knick Knacks” for her family to enjoy Christmas Eve. All of her grandchildren each have a collection of Christmas ornaments, specially picked for them by her, which became a yearly tradition. Family was paramount to her. Dottie Rose lived a very full life and was loved by too many people to name. She is preceded in death by her parents, Samuel and Ruth Berry, husband, John Carlton Monks and siblings: Sam, Jim, Mary, and Edwin “Buddy” Berry. She is survived by her children, Ruth Anne (Jay) Phillips, John (Tina) Monks and Martha (Tim) Stutzman, sister in law, Nellie Ruth Berry and various cousins, nephews, and nieces. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Mistie Phillips Beam, Jennifer Ruth Phillips, Katherine Phillips Kacar (Barış) Matthew Phillips (Mary Catherine) Maggie Stutzman Townsend (Jeremy) Will Stutzman (Mary) Nathan Stutzman, Jacob Berry Monks and Meagan Monks Hutchinson. Great grandchildren: Andrew Beam, Grayson, Locke, and Zeke Townsend, Charlotte and William Phillips—all of whom lovingly referred to her as Momma Dot throughout her life.