DOROTHY  SHOOK  PICQUELLE,  1920  ~  2014

Dorothy Shook Picquelle passed away peacefully on Friday, March 7, 2014 at the age of 94. She grew up in Yorba Linda, graduated from Fullerton Union High School (as did her mother and two children), studied nursing at Fullerton College, married in 1946, and spent most of her adult life in Fullerton.  Dorothy had an irrepressible sense of humor and a kindhearted yet feisty nature. She shared an easy smile and friendly word with everyone she met. Dorothy loved to garden, sew, cook, talk, laugh, and ask tons of questions. She loved her family and was a loyal and steadfast friend of many. Dorothy was the quintessential mother; she raised her two children and mothered many of their friends.  After her children were grown, she babysat and became a loving member of a few other lucky families. She also mothered a menagerie of pets, including dogs, cats, and tortoises (raising many of them from eggs). Dorothy lived her life in service to others. She nursed an invalid husband for many years before his passing in 1971, and tended to her mother for years after that.  She was a long-term volunteer with Caring Companions and with FISH of Fullerton, where she was a dispatcher and dispatcher trainer. Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, Lloyd Shook and Thelma Beebower, her brothers, Allen Shook and Dwight Shook, sister-in-law Frances Shook, and husband, Willard Picquelle. She is survived by her son Carey Picquelle of Fullerton, daughter Susan Picquelle and son-in-law Jim Meador of Seattle, sister-in-law Mary Shook of Sherman Oaks, many step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren, and a backyard full of tortoises and bromeliads. A graveside service was held on Tuesday, April 1st, at Memory Garden Memorial Park in Brea.  Given Dorothy's keen sense of humor, there is no doubt she was chuckling that her funeral was on April Fool's Day