Obituary of Dorothy P. Schoen

The world lost a bright and beautiful spirit on April 17, 2025, when Dorothy Schoen passed away peacefully at the age of 97. She leaves behind a life woven with strength, compassion, resilience, and an indelible mark on all who were lucky enough to know her.

Dorothy was born on May 24, 1927, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Milton Pasternak and Bertha Pasternak. Her parents had immigrated from Russia, her father born in Odessa in 1887, her mother born in 1883 and were married in Kiev in 1911 before crossing oceans to build a new life in America. Dorothy was the youngest of their children and the last surviving of her siblings, her brother Irving and her sisters Mary and Evelyn, each of whom she loved deeply and carried in her heart all her life.

Dorothy’s early years were shaped by fierce independence and a love of learning that would define her. She graduated from Milwaukee State Teachers College in 1949, an accomplishment she achieved at a time when few women were given a full and fair path forward. That same year, she married Alan Schoen, beginning a long chapter of her life that took her far from her beginnings in Milwaukee.

In 1953, Dorothy and Alan moved to Denver, Colorado, a city she would call home for more than seventy years. In Denver, she found her purpose, dedicating her life to educating young children as a teacher for Denver Public Schools. Her focus was early childhood education, and she taught in some of the most underserved neighborhoods in the city, working with families living in Section 8 housing, families who struggled but hoped. Dorothy did not just teach lessons, she taught love, patience, dignity, and possibility. She believed in every child who crossed her classroom threshold, and she gave of herself without reservation.

Later in the 1970s, while raising her family and building her life, Dorothy earned her master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, another quiet but remarkable triumph, a testament to her love of growth and perseverance.

Outside of her career, Dorothy was a woman of deep community spirit. She taught Religous School for many years at Temple Emanuel in Denver, and after her retirement, she became a fixture at Rose Hospital, volunteering in the hospital gift shop for nearly four decades, always showing up, always giving, always connecting.

Dorothy’s life was filled with passions that made her sparkle. She and Alan traveled the world together, taking cruises to faraway lands and bringing home not souvenirs, but stories. She loved art and was not afraid to pick up a paintbrush herself, taking classes and creating art. Later in life, she discovered a love for dance, specifically tap, and performed in recitals with a joy that defied her age.

She was a woman who lived in motion, mind and spirit. She was an avid reader, devouring hundreds of books over the decades. She could solve crossword puzzles most people would not even attempt. She answered Jeopardy questions with lightning speed and often beat everyone in the room solving Wheel of Fortune puzzles. Dorothy also loved her weekly games of Mahjong and Pan with her many friends, games filled with laughter, friendly competition, and connection. She loved playing games of all kinds, always finding joy in the company they brought.

Family was central to Dorothy’s heart, though life, as it often does, brought both joy and hardship. She was the mother of three children, Gary Schoen, partner Candice Kiesow, Marla Schoen, husband Jonathan Couch and her late daughter, Randi Schoen, who tragically passed away in 2014 at the age of 60. Though life's roads were not always easy, Dorothy’s love for her family never wavered.

Her greatest joy, pride, and wonder came from her granddaughter, Meghan Nally, (husband AJ Nally). Dorothy found in Meghan a light and a hope that lifted her spirit in every season. She spoke often and proudly of Meghan’s intelligence, kindness, and accomplishments, and when Meghan welcomed her own daughter, Emma Nally, Dorothy’s heart overflowed. To see her great-granddaughter was to see life’s beautiful continuation, and Dorothy treasured every moment.

Dorothy had a heart that seemed limitless. She adored her extended family, her many nieces, nephews, and their families, always offering advice, encouragement, friendship, and a soft place to land. She made friends easily, with a grace and natural charm that drew people to her. To meet Dorothy was to feel seen, heard, and loved.

Her marriage to Alan spanned 55 years until his passing in 2004. Though life together brought its own challenges, their shared adventures, travels, and memories remained an important and lasting part of her story.

Dorothy Schoen lived a life rich in service, passion, compassion, and wisdom. She was not a woman of pretense or empty grand gestures. Her greatness was quieter, deeper, more enduring. She built a life that mattered, a life rooted in lifting others up, seeking knowledge, creating beauty, and showing up again and again for the people she loved.

She leaves behind a legacy not just of memories, but of living example a reminder that a meaningful life is not defined by perfection, but by perseverance, compassion, curiosity, and love.

Dorothy Schoen will be deeply missed, but she will never be forgotten. Her spirit lives on in the family she adored, the friends she cherished, and the countless lives she touched with her generosity, wisdom, laughter, and heart. She carried warmth that lifted those around her, a kindness that made strangers feel like friends, and a lightness of spirit that welcomed joy and laughter wherever she went. Her life was a quiet triumph, a testament to resilience, compassion, and the simple, enduring power of love.

Her story will echo far beyond her time here, a story of quiet triumph, of deep love, of a life fully and truly lived.

Graveside service, Monday, April 21, 2:30pm, Mount Nebo Cemetery; livestream available on Feldman Mortuary's YouTube channel.