October 1, 1941 – February 17, 2025
Dorothy Weissman, a long-time Federal Way resident, passed away in Lake Oswego, Oregon, on February 17, at the age of 83, following a six-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was living in Memory Care at Mary’s Woods Senior Living Community. Dorothy (Dot) is survived by her children: Adam Weissman (Tabitha Jordan) and Tamily Weissman- Unni (Vivek Unni). She leaves behind five grandchildren: Naomi, Alina, Nova, Sonia, and Alexandra.
Dot was born in Yorkshire, England on October 1, 1941. As Sheffield was heavily bombed during World War II, she was born in a temporary outdoor maternity ward while bombs were falling. Dot grew up very poor in a section of Sheffield called Attercliffe. Her father worked as a crane driver in the Sheffield steel mill. Her mother Gladys worked as a maid, but found her true passion in darts. Gladys was the reigning darts champion of Sheffield for many years and spent most evenings competing at the pub.
Dot always loved school. She attended a low-income school in Attercliffe until a teacher encouraged her to take the entrance exam at the prestigious Grange Grammar school for girls, where Dot won a scholarship to attend. This was a bright spot in her childhood. She moved on to be the first in her family to attend college, studying botany and zoology at the University of Liverpool from 1960-1963. After attaining her teaching credentials, she decided to “see the world” and joined the Voluntary Service Overseas program (British equivalent of the Peace Corps). In 1964 she was sent to teach biology at the Accra Girls Secondary School in Accra, Ghana. There she met and married Michael (Mike) Weissman, who was teaching with the American program, Teachers for West Africa.
After moving to the United States, Dot lived in Federal Way for 30+ years. She worked at a nursing home in Normandy Park, then for many years at the British Consulate in downtown Seattle – where she met Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip during a visit! She then worked for the People Of Color Against AIDS Network, and eventually returned to teaching. Dot finished her working career as a science teacher at Decatur High School and Saghalie Middle School in Federal Way.
Dot was a brilliant, witty, creative, vibrant, feisty Englishwoman who made the people around her laugh every day, and knew more than anything how to fight to survive. She worked very hard and had the highest pain tolerance most doctors had ever seen. Creative throughout her life, Dot’s energy and joy shone particularly bright when she was on the stage. Dot was active in two decades of musical theater productions with Puget Sound Musical Theater as well as the Seattle-based Mountaineers group. She was written up in the Federal Way News on multiple occasions. She was also a long-time, stalwart singer in the church choir at Wayside United Church of Christ in Federal Way, where she was a generous and devoted member for over 40 years.
Dot retired and moved to Oregon in 2013, leaving behind a rich community and many dear friends in Federal Way. In Oregon she lovingly helped take care of her granddaughters until her memory started to fail. Officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2019, she moved into the Mary’s Woods community in 2021 and eventually memory care. She was compassionately cared for by the incredible staff at Caritas House along with her long-time caretaker Kathleen Tumpane. A fierce survivor until the very end, Dot eventually passed away peacefully on February 17 with her two children at her side. Full obituary can be read at Everloved.com.
A celebration of Dot’s life will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday June 21, at Wayside United Church of Christ in Federal Way, Washington.
