Dorothy Evelyn (Bland) Minnis

Dorothy Evelyn Bland Minnis was born in Columbus, Ohio, on September 2, 1921. She was the youngest of three children born to Claudia Harper Bland and Henry C. Bland, Sr. She married Louis T. Minnis, Sr., of Nashville, Tennessee, on September 17, 1949. Dorothy attended Mt. Vernon Elementary and Champion Junior High Schools in the Columbus Public School District, and was a graduate of Columbus East High School. She attended The Ohio State University and Bliss College. All of her children received college degrees. Dorothy was actively employed throughout her life, as a telephone operator, an elevator operator at the FR Lazarus Company, a clerk in the millinery department at Madison’s Department Store, and at a Greenlawn Avenue shirt factory. She modeled clothing at Morehouse Fashion Department Store and at Leakes Furs, and was once a second place winner in a bathing beauty contest. She was a government worker for many years, as an unemployment compensation clerk, a presiding judge in the voting polls, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, and at Defense Construction Supply Center (DCSC) in Columbus, Ohio, from where she retired after 22 years of service. She returned to the workforce, at Nationwide Insurance, after the passing of her husband in 1992. Dorothy and her family were active members of Shiloh Baptist Church throughout her life. She grew up in the Cradle Roll nursery and the primary and children’s departments, and was baptized at the age of 11. During her 80 years of active Shiloh membership, she belonged to Torchbearers Class No. 10 (financial secretary), the Royal Aids Circle (treasurer), the Senior Choir (vice president), the ABWM and EUMBA missionaries, the Chimers, and the Shiloh Book Club, and was a Sunday School devotions leader. She was made a Deaconess in 2006, and remained a regular participant in worship services and Bible Study. Dorothy was also active in the community as a member of The Lunch Bunch, the Altrusians, and as a volunteer at St. Anthony Hospital, where she received The Anthony Award, the hospital’s highest recognition for helping others. As a young adult, she studied voice at the Capital School of Music and sang at wedding parties and tea parties. Dorothy was predeceased by her husband of 43 years, Louis T. Minnis, Sr., brother-in-law Adolphus Dean, and sister-in-law Geneva Bland. She is survived by her daughters, Audrey (Jerry) Turner of Oxon Hill, Maryland, and Barbara (Dale) Harden, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio; son, Rev. Louis T. (Deborah) Minnis, Jr., of Orlando, Florida; sister and brother, Laureen Dean and Henry C. Bland, Jr., grandchildren, Geri Turner Lake, Kesha James, Rev. Maurice A. (Tyesha) Harden, Madison and Arielle Minnis; great-grandchildren, Tre and Tianna Byrd, Mila Quezada Minnis, and Sean Harden, and a host of loving in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, and special friends of all ages. Dorothy was called home to glory by her beloved Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on March 2, 2013, at the age of 91.