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Dorothy Mearl (Dottie) Meyer, 89

| January 1, 2025 1:00 AM

Dorothy Mearl (Dottie) Meyer, 89, of Coeur d’Alene, died peacefully in her sleep at Schneidmiller Hospice House in Coeur d’Alene on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, surrounded by her six living children.

Dorothy was born March 8, 1935, in Ivanhoe, Texas, to Amos Ray and Evie Elizabeth Janeway, the fourth of seven children. As a child, she lived a hardscrabble but happy life in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Arizona during America’s Dust Bowl days. She recalled picking cotton with her family as soon as she was old enough to “straddle a 60-pound sack.”

Searching for a better life, Dorothy’s father traded his farm for a pickup with sideboards to move his family to a labor camp in Indio, Calif.

In 1952-53, Dorothy, then about 18, was working at the Knotty Pine Restaurant in Indio when she met Border Patrol officer Norman Orrmins. They would have five children in 18 years together in Texas, southern California and the small northern California town of Corning. After the couple split up, Dorothy married Bill Meyer, with whom she had two more children, twins William and Christian.

Dorothy was a homemaking magician who stretched dollars to care for her growing family. To supplement the family income, she worked as a forklift driver, cosmetologist and seamstress. For recreation, she bowled, played softball, belly-danced, painted and became a photographer.

As a child, she dropped out of school to help her family. But she obtained a GED certificate in Corning, Calif., and later enrolled at nearby Chico State University, where she came within a few credits of a psychology degree.

Dorothy is survived by six children: Joni (Tom) Coombe of Naples, Idaho; Brenda (Dave) Oliveria of Coeur d’Alene; Norman Allen Orrmins of Naples, Idaho; Rik Orrmins of Barstow, Calif.; Laura (Brent) Gibson of Boise and Christian (Carin) Meyer of Vancouver, Wash. She is also survived by her brother, Art Janeway of Porterville, Calif., and sister Marie Tillery of Modesto, Calif; 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, son William and four siblings: brothers Phineas Janeway and William Janeway and sisters Darlene Cline and Peggy Sue Janeway.

A private gathering for Dorothy was held at Yates Funeral Home in Coeur d’Alene on Dec. 17, 2024. Inurnment will occur in Forest Cemetery in Coeur d’Alene.