Dorothy Hilsdon Southworth was called into her eternal life in heaven on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at the age of 91. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 56 years, Roy Samuel Southworth, Jr. in October 2010; and by her parents, Charlie E. Hilsdon and Altia Bell Barnes Hilsdon. She is survived by two daughters, Robin Shoemaker (and husband Michael) and Kelly Kapolka (and husband Gary); two grandsons, Samuel Shoemaker (and wife Sidni) and Joseph Shoemaker; two great-grandchildren, Hayes Shoemaker and Payton Shoemaker; her brother Charles Hilsdon; her nephew David Hilsdon; and niece Marsha Turner.
She was born in Mesa, Arkansas in Prairie County on July 16, 1934 and graduated from De Valls Bluff High School and lived for a brief time in Little Rock while working there. She attended Pan American Business School in Richmond, Virginia. It was in Richmond where a classmate took her home for a weekend in the countryside, she met her lifelong love, Roy.
From the mid-1950’s until 1962, she worked as the office manager at the Crippled Children’s Hospital in Richmond (now Children’s Hospital). She so loved the less fortunate children who were both treated and resided there. She left her work in 1962 to become a full-time homemaker and embraced the domestic life and motherhood, but never stopped missing her work life.
She had a number of passions, but her primary focus was her family. She loved motherhood, gardening, cooking, baking, sewing, nature, animals (particularly the family horse, Doc), traveling and the Lord. She always maintained that God was her best friend. She was born in the middle of the great depression, which was followed closely by World War II. The scarcity resulting from these significant events during her formative years greatly influenced her approach to life.
From the time she was young, she was a hard worker on her family’s extensive garden and farm in Arkansas and throughout her 70+ years of life in Virginia. The family took near annual trips to Arkansas to visit family, but also cross-country trips camping, and in later years visiting her daughters where they worked and lived in Maryland, New York, Ohio, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Indiana, Alaska and Washington state, always visiting sites along the way. She also enjoyed trips to Mexico, Hawaii and eastern, central and western Canada and had been to all fifty states. The love for travel was fed by a car trip when she was young to the west coast via Route 66. She always had a smile and a zeal for life with all she encountered, and lived a life of sacrifice for others. She will be missed.
Visitation for family and friends will be Saturday June 13, 2026 held at Westbrook Funeral Home in Hazen, Arkansas beginning at 1:00 P.M. until 2:00 P.M. Following visitation, a graveside service and burial in the Hilsdon family plot will begin at 2:00 P.M. at the Hazen Cemetery. Contributions in memory of Dorothy may be made to First Baptist Church of Ashland, Virginia, 800 Thompson Street, Ashland, VA 23005; or give online https://fbcava.org/give