Dorothy Williams Venning of West Yarmouth passed away peacefully on April 17, 2023 in Hyannis.

Dot was born in Greencastle, IN to Robert E. and Ada (Colgate) Williams on April 19, 1931. She earned a B.A. in Art History from DePauw University in 1953, and was married for 47 years to John M. Venning, who predeceased her in 2002. They lived in Arlington Heights, IL and Ridgefield, CT prior to retiring to Brewster.

Dot was a talented and enthusiastic artist, creating beautiful paintings, bird and animal carvings, cakes, and even illustrating a church cookbook. Her faith was important to her, and she was an active member of Northside United Methodist Church, spending many hours creating crafts for sale at the church fair, working at the church thrift shop, visiting hospitalized church members, and creating lifelong friendships with other members. She also kept in touch with members of Jesse Lee United Methodist Church, her former church in Ridgefield, CT, where she was one of several pie baking enthusiasts who created hundreds of pies for the annual church fair.

Dot enjoyed spending time at the beach, relaxing and collecting driftwood for her bird carvings. She adored her three grandchildren and looked forward to spending birthdays and holidays with them both at the Cape and at their home in Weston.

She loved to laugh and had a wicked sense of humor that was balanced by her kindness to others and her knack for making people feel comfortable and welcomed in her presence. She was proud to be the Queen of the local Red Hat Society and looked forward to planning fun activities with the group and getting to wear her assortment of red hats and purple outfits.

Dot will be deeply missed by her family and her many friends, both new and old, as well as the staff of Maplewood at Mayflower Place in West Yarmouth, where she happily lived the last several years of her life.

Dot is survived by her children, Lisa Reitano (Robert) of Weston, John D. Venning (Monica Hatting) of Tucson, AZ, Robert Venning (Beth Aglietti) of Bethel, CT, and Todd Venning of Ridgefield, CT. She also leaves her grandsons Michael, David (Darian Rieth), and Jeffrey Reitano. She was due to become a great grandmother in May. Dot was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Robert E. Williams.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 am Saturday, May 13 at the Northside United Methodist Church in Brewster. Memorial donations may be made to the Northside United Methodist Church, 701 Airline Rd., Brewster, MA 02631; the American Heart Association, PO Box 78851, Phoenix, AZ 85062; or to the Macular Degeneration Association, PO Box 96162, Washington, DC 20090.

The Venning so very sorry for your loss. Dorothy was one of my favorite clients at the Salon at Maplewood. I had so much fun with her always great talks . I miss her so much. Again sorry for your loss. Teresa Wright