Obituary: Lois Dossey Dennis

Lois Dossey Dennis, of Winter Garden, passed away at home with her family around her on Friday, July 14, 2017, at the age of 92. Lois was born on Jan. 31, 1925, in Medulla, Florida, to Jackson and Leah Dossey and raised on a strawberry farm in Plant City. 

She and her two sisters were some of the earliest “strawberry girls” and assisted their father with the planting, hoeing, covering the plants with straw to protect them from freezing, and finally picking some of the best strawberries ever grown at that time. She attended “strawberry school” which ran from April to December to allow time to harvest the strawberries when they ripened.  

Lois entered the Florida State College for Women at the age of 16 and was in the last graduating class (1946) before it became Florida State University the next year. She was a lifelong Seminole.  After college, she met and married the love of her life, Carol Franklin Dennis.

They moved to Winter Garden in 1954, where they made many lifelong friends. She was an avid reader and read thousands of books over her lifetime. As a member of the West Orange Junior Service League she was instrumental in starting the Winter Garden Library, which later became the West Orange Public Library.

Her passion was playing duplicate bridge, and she played with the likes of Charles Goren, who at the time was the bridge guru of the country. She achieved the title of Life Master and started the West Orange Duplicate Bridge Club at the West Orange Country Club, which she later moved to Tanner Auditorium. She directed the Bridge Club for more than 50 years until her passing.

She was predeceased by her husband, Carol, and her son, Darol Ray Dennis.

Lois is survived by her sisters, Iris Larson and Gwen Aman, and Gwen’s husband, Bobby Aman. She also leaves behind her daughters and their husbands: Jacque Dunegan and her husband, Steve, and Darleen Sapp and her husband, Thomas. She is survived by 10 grandchildren: her son Darol’s children, Darol Bouton, Jennifer Bouton, Darol Ray Jr. and Andy; her daughter Jacque’s children, Alex, Dennis and their surrogate daughter, Aisha; and her daughter Darleen’s children, Patrick, Joshua and Shaun. She is also survived by eight great-grandchildren, the last of which was born on June 17 but whom Lois still got to see via video just days before her passing.

The family will receive friends at a viewing from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 28, at the Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home in Winter Garden, and her funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 29, at the Episcopal Church of the Messiah in Winter Garden. Interment will follow with a procession to the family plot at Mount Enon Cemetery in Plant City.

Lois loved flowers, and her favorite charity was the Edgewood Children’s Ranch.     Arrangements entrusted to Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home, Winter Garden, FL; baldwinfairchild.com.