Dorothy Dent (Garner) artist, teacher, and mother passed away April 15 after bravely battling Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
Dorothy was born April 2, 1942, to loving parents Lester and Christie McCafferty of Springfield MO. An only child, she was raised on a farm in south Springfield. Her rural upbringing and strong work ethic influenced her life in an important way.
Dorothy’s mother had an artistic flair and Dorothy followed the same path, dabbling with painting as a teenager. At age 20, her husband bought her a set of oil paints from a flea market, and she continued to paint periodically. In 1975 she attended a Tole painting class and was soon teaching classes in her home. This began a decades long career that brought her immense joy.
She found her true passion painting scenes of the fields and barns that were so much a part of her youth. In 1976 she opened “Painter’s Corner” in Republic. She made a name for herself painting saw blades which led to her first book “Sawscapes”. She soon developed into an internationally known teacher and authored over 40 instruction books, contributed to various decorative painting publications, and appeared as a guest on the popular PBS series “The Joy of Painting”, she went on to host her own series “The Joy of Country Painting”. She taught classes in her studio, across the country, and internationally for 40 years. She retired in 2015.
Dorothy was a member of the Brookline church of Christ. Prior to Brookline, she had been a member of the Sunset church of Christ for a number of years.
She is survived by her children Casey Dent (Sara) of Olathe, KS and Susie Wieland (Dave) of Springfield, MO and three grandchildren: Sam Dent, Olivia Dent, and Leo Wieland.
She gave her children the gift of independence and the courage to go out in the world and “give it a try!”. She made the most of every minute and she was loved by all that knew her. She will be terribly missed.
A celebration of Dorothy’s life will be at 11:am, Saturday, April 23, 2022, at Greenlawn Funeral Home South. Memorial donations may be made in Dorothy’s name to,
https://sacredselections.org/donate/
For family and friends unable to attend, the service can be viewed live via Zoom, meeting ID 448 547 7845 . Out of respect for those watching through Zoom, ****Please be courteous to others and turn off the camera and audio on your electronic devices.***