Dorothea D. "Dot" Handler was born in Valparaiso, NE on March 8, 1915 to Herman and Minnie (VanLandingham) Olsen. Dot grew up in Valparaiso and attended grade school and high school there. Her father died when she was three years old and she was forced to quit high school to work. Times were very difficult then. Dot and her brother Homer would walk the railroad tracks to pick up chunks of coal which they used to heat their house. She went to work for the telephone company in Valparaiso until April 8, 1942, when Dot was united in marriage to Alex "Al" Handler at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Wahoo. They lived on a farm near Raymond for three years. Because of Al's health, they moved to Wahoo where Dot helped Al work in the Locker Plant that he operated.

After their children, Douglas and Laurel were born, she stayed at home to raise them and run the household. Her life revolved around her family. She loved to cook and would always be cleaning around the house. It was said that she made the best fried chicken around. She was "the rock" in her family. Dot was able to live at her home until two years ago when she moved to South Haven Living Center in Wahoo. She passed away November 3, 2010 at the age of 95 years. She had been a resident of Wahoo for nearly 65 years. Dot was a parishioner at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church.


Dorothea is survived by her son and daughter in law, Douglas and Cheryl Handler, Fremont, NE; daughter and son in law, Laurel and Robert Cook, Wahoo, NE; grandchildren Bryce (Elizabeth) Cook, Wahoo, Jane (Patrick) Hardesty, Lincoln, NE, Joel (Amy) Cook, Ashland, NE; great grandchildren Sam, Max, Winston and Kade Cook, Elliot and Ethan Hardesty; sisters in law Verna Olsen, Phoenix, AZ, and Phyllis Angle, Laramie, WY; several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Alex "Al" Handler; brothers Leonard, Willard, Kenneth and Homer Olsen.