Dorothy Diane (Hunter) Ennis was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 27, 1929, the second of four children. She passed on August 22, 2022, at the age of 92. Her parents, Wiley and Catherine (Ahrendt) Hunter, met in San Francisco when Wiley was in the Army. Wiley was raised on a farm near Cabool, Missouri.
Dorothy is preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Shannon Wallace Ennis; her parents; brother, Jim; sister, Patricia Keeling; son-in-law, Michael Lonegan; daughter-in-law, Holly.
She is survived by her sister, Hazel Buffington, of Cape Fair, MO; six children, Shannon (Cheryl) of Chesapeake, VA, Kenneth Rex (Kathleen) of Eminence, Catherine Lonegan of Camarillo, CA, Benjamin (Jonna) of Wichita, KS, Charles (Laurie) of Dallas, TX and Mike (Glenda) of Eminence; eight grandsons, Kenneth (Kim) of Bentonville, AR, Patrick (Alison) of Saline, MI, James (Elane) of Eminence, Bobby and Brian of Frisco, TX, Shannon and Sean of Chesapeake, VA, Steve (Trudy) Lonegan of Chapel Hill, NC; five granddaughters, Lauren (Tyler) Joe and Sarah (Jerrod) Nickelson of Wichita, KS, Hannah (Matt) Chatman of Poplar Bluff, MO, Chris (Mark) Snow, of Phoenix, AZ, Elle Moritz of Fort Worth, TX; and twelve great-grandchildren, Carter, Reese, Finn, Davis, Kalin, Kyler, and Ben Ennis, Glen Chatman, Ryan and Porter Lonegan, and Madison and Lilly Snow.
Dorothy moved to Shannon County at age 4, during the Great Depression. She attended Poplar Elementary at Blair’s Creek. After eighth grade graduation, she attended Eminence High School and graduated in 1948. During her senior year of high school, she boarded with Mary Ann Brawley, Shannon’s older sister. Shannon started coming for dinner because Dorothy was a good cook – and their courtship began. Shannon and Dorothy were married on April 8, 1949.
Dorothy attended Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar. She would attend college in the summer and come back to Shannon County for the school year to teach. She graduated from Southwest Missouri University in 1961, the same month her fifth child was born. She taught at the rural Shannon County Schools of Big Creek, Carr’s Creek, Sutton’s Creek, Simpson and Poplar at Blair’s Creek, and Button Rock. She taught for two years in Winona and then taught third grade in Eminence for 14 years.
Shannon and Dorothy had six children. Besides raising six children and a big garden, she loved quilting. She played with fabric scraps as a child and started prolific quilt-making after retiring from teaching. Always the teacher, she taught many locals to quilt. Besides her quilts, her family is blessed to decorate their homes each season and holiday with quilted placemats, table runners, Christmas tree skirts, and other quilted items made by Dorothy. Many neighbors and customers are also blessed with her handiwork. She collected and documented Ozarks Quilts. She documented the “collection” in her book, Ozarks Heritage Quilts and Their Makers 1880s to 1980s which she published in 2001. Dorothy was president of Eminence Arts and Crafts for six years. She also donated many quilts for community fundraisers. A granddaughter-in-law told her husband, “You have the perfect Grandma. She makes quilts and jelly!!”
Please honor Dorothy by making donations to the Shannon and Dorothy Ennis Scholarship Fund, c/o BEST Foundation, PO Box 730, Eminence, MO 65466. This scholarship is given each year to an Eminence High School graduate to further their college or vocational education.
