Dorothy Ann Whitner Backes passed away quietly in her sleep at Lexington Place in New Smyrna Beach on Thursday August 20. She was 96 years old. She is preceded in death by her husband Frank Backes, her sister Jane Randolph Grange and her brother-in-law Roger Grange.

Dot was born on Feb. 6, 1930, in Sanford Florida, daughter of Dorothy Lee Rumph and Benjamin Franklin Whitner V. She was descended from a branch of the Virginia Randolphs who emigrated to Florida in the early 19th century. She was an adventurous youth, riding horses, reading Penrod and dreaming of following Huck Finn down the river. When it came time to choose a college, she didn’t go to Tallahassee, she got a scholarship to Ripon College in Wisconsin so she could see the “world” and hopefully some snow. There she met, and after graduation, married, Frank Backes from a northern Chicago suburb. A family member is said to have opined “We sent her up north to learn about Yankees, not marry one”.

After a short time in Kenosha, Wisconsin, they took up residence in Waukegan, Illinois and raised 4 sons. Early on, she worked for Abbott Laboratories and did some exercise riding and painted equine portraits at a local stable, but the rigors of child rearing soon put an end to that. She was still one to follow her own drummer. When Ben broke his ankle playing softball, there was a silver lining; she got to run his paper route, something that young ‘ladies’ couldn’t do when she was growing up. A neighbor once remarked, “Your family’s kind of strange, your dad bakes and your mom fixes bicycles”.

When most of the brood had left the nest, she found a job with a toxicology lab outside of Chicago, went back to school and got a masters in biochemistry and eventually rejoined Abbott Labs, working to develop testing kits. Painting and horses had always been a big part of her life and now she could finally buy her own horse, Alley Oop, a trailer and a GMC Suburban to tow it. They also used the Suburban to tour here and there all over the country, with curtains on the windows so they could sleep in the back.

Upon retiring, the lure of Florida and family won her over and she and Frank moved to Edgewater near New Smyrna Beach, where she was active in the Florida Native Plant Society, the Artist’s Workshop of NSB, St. Peter the Fisherman church, a local equestrian therapy group and other outdoor and wildlife activities.

She is survived by her 4 sons, Jim, Tom and his wife Lynn, Steve and his wife Debbie and Ben and grandchildren Karen, Stephanie, Iris, Margaret and Stephen.

A memorial service is scheduled for Friday September 4th at 1:00 PM at St. Peter the Fisherman Episcopal Church, New Smyrna Beach with Father Peter Tepper presiding.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Paw Paw chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society c/o Karen Walter, 1107 36th St. Edgewater, Fla. 32141 in memory of Dot Backes.