Dorothy Lindrud Biddle

Dorothy Lindrud Biddle died October 11, 2026, in Durham, North Carolina at the age of 89. She was born in Red Wing, Minnesota, on December 18, 1936, to Evaline M. Schmidt and Stanley E. Lindrud. Early in WWII her family moved to St Paul where her father worked in a war plant. In 1946, the family moved into a newly built house in the developing area around N. White Bear Avenue. She attended Hayden Heights Elementary, Ames Jr. High, and Johnson High School graduating in June 1954. She graduated with a BS in Elementary Education with a minor in Library Science from the University of Minnesota in June 1958. She worked part-time at the St. Paul Public Library during high school and college.

Dorothy met Justin M. Biddle, a summer intern at Honeywell Aeronautical Systems, at a University of Minnesota Coffman Student Union dance in June 1957. They were engaged Christmas-New Year’s week 1957 and married on June 28, 1958. After a short honeymoon on the St. Croix River, they began a two-week road trip to Los Angeles where they would remain for 47 years.

Dorothy began teaching in Fall 1958 at Walteria Elementary School in Torrance, California. She would continue teaching until the birth of her daughter and son. In Fall 1970, she returned to full-time teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She received an MS in Elementary School Management from Pepperdine University while working full time and retired in June 1994 as the principal of the Castle Heights Elementary School.

In retirement, Dorothy volunteered with the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, California, becoming an expert in all things jellyfish and Pacific tidepool flora and fauna. She traveled the world, touring countries on six continents, missing only Antarctica. She enjoyed spending time with her five grandchildren.

She is survived by her husband Justin, daughter Andrea (Dean), son Blair (Jessica), five grandchildren (Troy and Erik Zehnder, Roger, August, and Clara Biddle), brother Stanley and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. She is predeceased by her parents and her brother Harold and his wife, Sandra.