WIFE OF JOSEPH M. FENTRESS,
MAJ---US ARMY
∼Dorothy "Dot" Darnell Fentress, 93, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, July 12, 2016, in Denton. Dorothy was born in Meadows, North Carolina, to Eugene Ross Darnell and Irene Mable Darnell. Dot was one of three daughters raised by Ross and Irene.
Dot grew up in Winston-Salem, NC, and was involved in several sports and activities including being a cheerleader for Grey High School. Following high school, Dot worked for 7 years for the Piedmont Publishing Company which published several newspapers and journals. During her time with Piedmont, Dorothy managed the March of Dimes campaigns for Forsyth County throughout the WW II era. After WW II, Dorothy moved to Miami, Florida, and worked for Eastern Airlines for a couple of years.
Dorothy departed her Eastern Airlines job to work for the War Department. Her first assignment was at the United Nations Headquarters in Japan doing administrative work for General Mark Clark. General Clark and his staff were assigned to assist in the organization of a new government for post-war Japan. In her time at the United Nations, Dorothy typed out, and held secret, the Armistice Agreement to be signed in Panmunjom that ended the bloodshed on the Korean Peninsula in 1953. Among Dot's other exciting assignments here was a chance to escort Eleanor Roosevelt for her day long visit to the UN, Japan.
Following this assignment and while traveling in Italy with the King of Nepal, Dorothy was credited with using her diplomatic connections to assist the King's family when he was struck ill in Naples. Dorothy arranged for the King to be immediately transported to Switzerland where he was treated for 2 months.
In 1953, Dot elected to depart government employment and arranged to work in Spain as an administrator for a large US construction company that received a contract to rebuild utilities following the Spanish Civil War. However, fate stepped in and Dot met a handsome local (North Carolina) boy who was headed back to Arizona to begin his employment at the A-1 Brewery in Phoenix. Dot and Joe were married very soon, lived in Phoenix and Tucson for the next 10 years, and Joe worked to increase sales of A-1 beer. In 1960 Dorothy had her only child, Joseph Blake Fentress.
In 1967, Joe entered the copper mining business and they moved to Miami, Arizona. Joe retired in 1979 and Dot and Joe remained in the Globe-Miami area until 2005 when they moved to Denton, Texas, to play with their grandchildren.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, Joe. She is survived by her son, Blake, his wife, Whitney, and their children, Blythe, Chandler, and Reagan.
Dorothy and Joe's ashes will be interned at the DFW National Cemetery in a columbarium with the inscription "Cloud Dancing Forever."