Dorothy Alice Kerwin

Dorothy Alice Kerwin (Kimbrough), 90, of West Orange, N.J., was a Kansas native, was born January 31, 1920, in Jewell County, Kansas, to Alvah and Aura Murphy Kimbrough, and passed away at home surrounded by her loving family on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010.

She attended Jewell County one room elementary schools, and graduated from Mankato High School in 1938. After earning a teacher’s certificate at Fort Hays College, she taught in Jewell County “one room” rural schools. World War II developed and the call for workers in the defenses industry was published. Alice joined the work forces of Boeing Aircraft at Wichita, Kansas, working there until the end of the war building B-29’s.

Alice moved to Brooklyn, New York, joining her husband, Joseph Kerwin, as he returned from overseas duty with the United States Army. The marriage was blessed with the birth of son, Michael.

Alice was preceded in death by her parents, Alvah, and Aura Kimbrough; husband, Joseph Kerwin; brothers, Robert and Merle Kimbrough; sisters, Faith Howard, Grace Beebe, and Amy Teagarden.

Alice is survived by her son, Michael Kerwin, and his wife, Brenda; two grandsons, Matthew and Christopher Kerwin, and her sister, Ruth Ellen Price.

The funeral service will be held at Pleasantdale Presbyterian Church, 471 Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, N.J., on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010, at 11 a.m. The family will receive their friends at 10 a.m. prior to the service. A celebration of life service will be held Tuesday, December 7, 2010, at 10:30 a.m., at the Melby Mortuary Chapel, Mankato, Kansas, with Pastor Tessa Zehring officiating. The interment will be held at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Mankato, Kan. Arrangements are under the direction of Quinn-Hopping Funeral Home, Livingston, N.J. 07039.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Pleasantdale Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, or the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, c/o Sean's Pals, 2 University Plaza, Suite 312, Hackensack, N.J. 07601.