Dorothy Barmeyer

Dorothy Van Siclen Dayton Barmeyer of Missoula died at home Sunday, March 9, 2014.
Dorothy was born in Bayside, Queens Borough, New York. She attended Friends Academy on Long Island and later was graduated from Smith College with majors in English and art history.
She first met her husband-to-be, George Henry Barmeyer, as a child in Sunday school and they were married in 1940. She was proud of being a secretary for the executives at Paramount News in New York City; her salary helped pay the rent while George attended medical school.
During World War II, while George was overseas in the Pacific Theater, Dorothy moved back to Long Island to live with her parents with their first daughter, Barbara. When George returned home, their son John joined the family. They were transferred to Boise, Idaho, where George was the physician at the Army's rest and rehabilitation camp. Both Dorothy and George fell in love with the western landscapes and decided to move west permanently. They relocated to Missoula in 1947, when George was offered a position as a pediatrician at the new Western Montana Clinic. During their first few years in Montana, two more daughters, Mary and Susan, were born and Dorothy and George built their dream home in Pattee Canyon.
At this time, Dorothy also began her art career by painting and studying under visiting professor Grace Victoria Cooper, the University of Montana's Walter Hook and Jim Dew, and Robert Atwood of Arizona Highways fame. In 1973, she founded Missoula's Main Street Artists.
Dorothy specialized in landscape oils and scenes of whimsy, and exhibited at art galleries around the state. Her paintings now grace many homes in Montana and as far away as Atlanta, Georgia and Denver, Colorado. She also painted miniature oil paintings for dollhouses which have sold nationally.
She was known for her intricate miniature creations, which included a museum quality dollhouse patterned after a rural farmhouse she remembered from childhood. The civic accomplishment of which she was most proud was organizing, with the help of Missoula attorney Russell Smith, and seeing through to final passage the landmark Pattee Canyon zoning, which protected the places she loved.
Dorothy had strong compassion for children and animals, which was reflected in her quiet, loving, anonymous philanthropy to a wide variety of organizations, including the Florence Crittenton Home, the Intermountain Deaconess Home for Children, the Lake County Youth Guidance Home, and the Missoula Humane Society.

Dorothy's beloved husband George died September 4, 2000.
Fondly known as "Dottie" or "Lady" to her family, she will be remembered by them for her compassion, can-do attitude, and loving generosity. She will be missed by her four children: Barbara Barmeyer, John Barmeyer (Anda Olsen), Mary Barmeyer O'Brien (Dan O'Brien), and Susan Barmeyer (Jon Haber). She will also be missed by her nine grandchildren: Matthew Weld, Mary Rosales, Wilson Barmeyer, Mary Logan Bikoff, Jennifer O'Brien, Kevin O'Brien, Kathleen O'Brien, Steven Haber, and Benjamin Haber. Dorothy also had three great grandchildren: Zoë Weld, Ethan Weld, and Tinsley Barmeyer.
A private family gathering will be held at a future date on Dorothy's beloved property in Pattee Canyon. Messages can be left for the family at the website for Garden City Funeral Home: www.missoulafuneralhomes.com
Donations can be made in Dorothy's name to any of the charities that she supported mentioned above or to Hospice of Missoula.

Read Dorothy Barmeyer's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.