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Obituary: Betty Jean Dorr

Posted at 9:07 AM, Aug 18, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-18 11:11:01-04

Betty Jean Dorr passed away on August 13, 2021. Betty was born on January 14, 1933, to Howard and Edith Richardson in Salisbury, Maryland. Raised in Salisbury, her mother, Edith, was a homemaker. Her father, known as “Red”, drove a gas delivery truck and served as a volunteer fireman. They lived their entire married lives in the two-story home in Salisbury where Betty was born.

Betty’s grandparents were farmers and she and her sister spent their early years with grandparents, countless uncles, aunts, and cousins in picturesque Maryland farmland. Though women of her generation were not often encouraged to participate in sports, she played basketball in church league as a center guard. Growing up on the “eastern shore”, Betty spent summers working and playing at Ocean City, Maryland and developed a love for seafood, especially softshell crab.

Betty met and married Arthur B. Badrian, from Queens, New York, when he was stationed at NAS Chincoteague, VA. They met playing and watching Navy League basketball. Their first child, Darla Lynne Badrian (Hoff), was born at Chincoteague and through many moves, their family grew to include Theresa Gale Badrian (Pattison), Bridget Kay Badrian (Gambrell) and Steven Howard Badrian. Born two years apart, they kept Betty very busy when Art was on duty and aboard ship for months at a time. Art and Betty, as a military family, moved so often the kids don’t remember many places they lived. Betty, also known as B.J., moved troublesome children with perseverance and good humor from “east coast” to “west coast”. Later, when she married Lawrence E. Dorr, Sr., “the twins”, L.E. Jr. and Charlotte Anne Jean Dorr, were born. They were troublesome too, born on Saint Patrick’s Day, surprising their mom and dad. Betty said when Larry saw that he was a new father to two babies, expecting just one, the 20-year Navy veteran literally fainted!

Betty loved and cared for her children with countless birthday parties, sporting practices and games, Christmas toys put together at midnight, chickenpox (four kids at the same time), and tons of laundry. She was a fantastic cook with a flair for southern fried chicken and mashed potatoes and her famous oyster and giblet dressing. She survived a 14-foot boat built in her dining room. She was a proud military wife, participating in Navy Wives’ Clubs, VFW Auxiliary, and the Salvation Army. She and Larry spent many hours in the “art room” making gift packs for Veterans, especially veterans at Fort Harrison.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Mary Lou; her husbands, Art and Larry, Sr; and her daughter, Theresa. She is survived by her niece and nephews in Maryland, her remaining five children, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Private services have been held but the family invites all to visit her gravesite at Fort Harrison, MT where she is buried alongside her husband, Larry Sr.

Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com [dokkennelson.com]