Dorothy Edith O'Donnell

1928 - 2024

Dorothy (Dot) E. O’Donnell passed away on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at the age of 96. Born to Gordon and Eleanor Johnson in Los Angeles, CA, her family moved to North Carolina during the Depression where she spent memorable years living with a beloved grandmother. The family relocated to Santa Barbara where Dot graduated high school. She then began a lengthy career working for the United States Navy in civil service beginning at Port Hueneme, where she met and married Edward O’Donnell. The couple settled in Camarillo, CA where Dot experienced the greatest joy of her life, raising three children, Dan (Marianne), Elizabeth (Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose), and Jeanne Marie Isham (Ken, predeceased).

Dot returned to full-time work in 1970 with the U.S. Navy at Pt. Mugu, CA. Always in pursuit of furthering her education and skills, Dot began attending night school where she completed a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree while actively participating in both Toastmistress, and Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPW) of Ventura County. In 1983, she transferred briefly to Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow, CA, then to China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) at Ridgecrest, CA from where she retired.

Dot lived life with great enthusiasm. After retiring, she poured herself into her many passions such as travel and genealogy. She traveled to Stratford, Connecticut where she was honored as a descendant of one of the town’s important citizens who was himself a signer of the US Constitution and the first president of Columbia University in New York. Dot cherished her Catholic faith and was an active member of St. Madeleine’s in Trona, CA.

For the last five years, Dot lived at Villa Scalabrini Retirement Home and Special Care Unit in Sun Valley, CA where she lived closer to family. Funeral services will be private.