SPARTA - Dorothy Marie Prell, 85, of Sparta passed away peacefully on March 3, 2024 at Gundersen Medical Center, surrounded by family.
Dorothy was born on March 14, 1938 in Black River Falls, WI to Raymond and Myrtle (Lundberg) Erickson. She frequently reminisced about her childhood joys of playing in or near the Black River with her siblings and friends, helping out at her mother’s diner, as well as the pain of losing her father at age 9. Dorothy often spoke of the several times where her Guardian Angel had saved her from danger as a child and a young woman.
Always creative, she won her first poetry award at age 10 and enjoying writing, especially poetry, throughout her lifetime. Her mother re-married Leon Vandervort and the family re-located to Tomah where she attended secondary schools, graduating from High School. She also dreamt of becoming an opera singer, a teacher or writing and directing her own plays.
In 1955, Dorothy married Noel Prell. They were later divorced. They had 5 children and she led a busy life with farming in rural Tomah and becoming a full time working mother with a professional career when it was not the norm. Dorothy ignored those who doubted her abilities and choices in life and became a successful real estate agent after the family moved off of the farm, while her children were still quite young. This occupation prompted the family to relocate to Sparta in 1968 where she was employed. Later jobs included working for First Call for help, Coulee Region Community Action Program, Chileda, as a Deputy Sheriff for La Crosse County serving legal papers and working for VISTA assisting Hmong families who had immigrated to the La Crosse area. Dorothy became the first Director of the Monroe County Child Support Agency to operate the office in the black, working diligently to collect unpaid child support payments. In the 70’s she briefly worked 3 jobs at once to make ends meet as a single mom of 5 children. She was most proud of starting her desktop publishing business, Prell Books and Multimedia, enabling her to print and publish books both by her and by other local authors.
In 1979, Dorothy married Donald “Fitz” Fitzpatrick and she relocated to La Crosse. Fitz passed away in 1987 and she moved back to Sparta a couple of years later.
Dorothy had a great deal of interests and hobbies. She authored several books, was a member of several writing groups and enjoyed attending writers conferences. She portrayed Mrs. Claus to Fitz’s Santa Claus at Christmas time. She grew strawberries, played clarinet in the high school band, learned to play piano on her own, and loved a good road trip by car, especially after retirement when she wintered in Mesa, Arizona for several years.
Continuing her education, Dorothy received a BS in Sociology from UW-La Crosse in 1982. She loved listening to Nat king Cole and Mario Lanza records while occasionally yodeling here and there, much to the amusement of her teenaged children. She was proud of this ability, as she was of all her interests, never shying away from doing the things that she loved or talking about what interested her. She spent many years researching, gathering and cataloging genealogy and the history other descendants as well as the descendent of her husbands’ families. Proud of her Scandinavian heritage, she was equally proud of being the longest lived Erickson amongst her siblings.
Dorothy was softhearted and rarely uttered an unkind word. Forever curious, she was unafraid to ask others questions about things she was interested in, kept her attitude positive, and was continually thanking her children for doing such a great job of raising her grandchildren. Dorothy not only dreamed about what she’d like to do, she often times dared to try to make those dreams come true. Dorothy is survived by her daughters Mary (Homayoon Saidi) Prell and Kathy (Donald) Purpus; sons Timothy Prell, Jon (Ann) Prell and Paul (Judy) Prell, Grandchildren Jerry (Katya) Prell, Jessica (Alexander) Henninger, Nicole Saidi, Julie (Christopher) Shea, April (Joseph) Volk, Adam (Siobhan) Prell, Andrew (Danielle) Prell and Kelsey Prell along with 12 great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Fitzpatrick; parents, Myrtle & Raymond Erickson; stepfather, Leon Vandervort; brothers Donald (Lea) Erickson, Charles (Sandra) Erickson and James (Charlotte) Erickson; sisters Helen (David) Lewis and Cynthia Quinn.
Family and friends are invited to a Memorial Service at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sparta on Saturday March 16, 2024 at 11:00 AM. A visitation will be held from 10:00 AM to the time the time of service.
In lieu of flowers or memorials, the family asks that you consider making donations to St Jude’s Children’s Hospital in her memory.
The Torkelson Funeral Home of Sparta is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences can be offered at torkelsonfuneralhome.com.
Torkelson Funeral Home
