DOLLARD, Dawn Louise

The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Saturday, September 17, 2011 Dawn Louise Irving Dollard passed away July 14, 2011, at Marley House Hospice in Prescott, Ariz. Dawn was born in Washington, D.C., on July 13, 1920. She graduated from George Washington University (BA degree in education) and the UCLA (MS in education). Dawn was a teacher and retired from the State of Maryland. She moved to Prescott in 1983, living initially in Dewey at the Prescott Country Club and later at Las Fuentes Resort. She became a volunteer at Sharlot Hall Museum. Her chief interest at Sharlot Hall was research on the lives of more than 400 territorial women represented in the Rose Garden. Dawn was one of the originators of the Sharlot Hall Rose Garden. In the early '90s, she began her living history presentations with the portrayal of Jesse Benton Fremont. Dawn was a Daughter of the American Revolution (DAR) (a descendant of Phillips Hatch) and it was the Arizona Society of the DAR that prompted her to become Martha Washington (wife of our first president, George Washington) in her series of historical reenactments. She also portrayed Abigail Adams, wife of our second president, John Adams, and Nellie Bush, Arizona's first woman senator. Dawn performed with grace and style, presenting wit, keen intelligence and vivid thoughts and comments on life in America in a time of revolution and change - all documented through her thorough research. Her reenactments were exceptionally effective due to the specifically tailored period costumes provided by Mary Kaye Manderfield, the Sharlot Hall costumer. Dawn was a member of the Arizona Mayflower Society (descendant of Richard Warren), a charter member of the Prescott Valley Historical society, a member of the Clan Irwin Association and a volunteer at the Prescott Valley Public Library. Dawn was a past regent of the Yavapai Chapter, DAR, and served as State Librarian and as chairman of several state committees and on the National Speakers Bureau. She was State Chairman of Friends of the Library. Dawn was honored in early 2005 for more than 30 years service as the librarian at Venture Out in Mesa, Ariz. In May 2009, she received the U.S. President's Volunteer Service Award at the Ruth Street Theater in Prescott for a lifetime of dedication to her community. She was a longtime member of the St. Luke's Episcopal Church congregation in Prescott. She is survived by the four children of her two brothers, Ms. Judith Irving Hulburt, Ms. Jeanne Irving Brining, Ms. Mary Connie Irving Fitzpatrick, and Dr. George Washington Irving III, and by 17 grand- and great-grand-nieces and -nephews. Dawn Dollard was an enthusiastic teacher, historian, librarian, gardener, actress and consummate "Aunt Dawn" for her brother's children and longtime family friends the Otts of Tucson, Ariz. She was a classy lady and a friend to all she met. She will be missed by many and certainly must enjoy a special place in heaven with the family members who preceded her to that glorious reward. Expressions of sympathy may be made in Dawn's name to Sharlot Hall Museum, 415 W. Gurley St., Prescott, AZ 86301, or Marley House Hospice, 1065 Ruth St., Prescott, AZ 86301. Information provided by survivors.