Dorothy “Dottie” Ann Willis Armstrong A huge void in our hearts was created with the passing of Dorothy, a Wife, Mother and Sister on October 9th, 2023, as she joined the legions of angels. She was born June 17th, 1943, in Moultrie, Georgia. The second child of an itinerant country/western singer and musician who appeared on stage at the ‘Grand Old Opry’ in addition to venues from Florida to California. Therefore, the family traveled quite a-lot or spent time with relatives when mom and babies traveled with dad. Dottie worked in the Actuarial Department at Southwestern Life Ins for 17 years and later she worked in Library Services for the Arlington ISD for 10 years. We acknowledge that she was a multifaceted personality. She was a gracious and loving person yet was strong willed and fierce in her opinions. She possessed strong moral beliefs and only needed the Ten Commandments as a simple standard. She most enjoyed just being with others, particularly immediate and extended family members. She never tried being the center of attention or the life of the party at gatherings, but rather was content to just be in the group. It would take a long time to describe the many facets of her persona, but perhaps a close friend said it best and succinctly, “A true source of nature, Dottie.” Gabby met Dottie in 1966 when she was accompanying a girl friend who came to visit her boyfriend at college. They just happened to knock on his door asking directions to the boyfriend’s room. In no uncertain terms, he was immediately awestruck by Dottie. Pretty girls in a men’s dorm will attract a lot of attention and so it was. While the girls visited, about a dozen guys descended on the boyfriend’s room to kibitz. For the balance of the visit, he merely ‘hung around’ but never took his eyes off her — the British have a great slang expression for this, he was ’gobsmacked’. Through the boyfriend, he was able to keep in touch with his long-distance friend, but it took him until 1971 before she yielded and became his bride. She was always an avid reader; biographies were her favorite. She was also a big-time movie buff and they were always first night Box Office patrons. Later in life she enjoyed old movies and would do running commentaries on star actor’s lives and plot lines. Kids, as they will, changed her life. She continued to work but her laser-like focus was always the kids. Gabby would tell people he made her his partner, but she absolutely molded the family. As a couple – with or without kids and friends – they took frequent trips to Las Vegas, and she submersed herself in the whole scene as an adjunct to their normal life. She enjoyed being a Texas Rangers fan with season tickets for family and friends for multiple years. Her overarching interest was always about family. Whether it was their immediate gang of four or the farthest extension of the Willis and Armstrong clans, she worked to be loving, attentive, tolerant and provide encouragement and emotional help. She believed this was her obligation. Once she told Gabby, she vowed to always tell her siblings that she loved them every chance she had because she felt they didn’t do that enough while growing up. She is loved beyond words and will be missed beyond measure. She was preceded in death by her parents, Virgil “Tex” E. and Frankie E. Tinnell Willis; her son Richard “R2” Rex Armstrong II; brother, Jimmy T. Willis; sister, Susan Y. Hall, brother-in-law Kenny McDaniel and sister-in-law Nancy R. French. She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Richard “Gabby” R. Armstrong; daughter Julia D. Armstrong and son-in-law Joe Bruce; sister Shirley J. McDaniel; sister Vickie L. DeRouen; sister-in-law, Paula Willis; brother-in-laws Pat DeRouen and Robert Willingham, along with in-laws Tom Armstrong family; Mary Ann Singleton; Bill Armstrong family; Hal Armstrong family, along with cherished nieces, nephews, and cousins. No service by request, however a Celebration of Life to be scheduled. If you are called to make a memorial contribution, the family asks you consider the Susan G. Komen Brest Cancer organization or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.