Unknown, Dorothy

Abt 1926 - 2015  (~ 89 years)    Has no ancestors and no descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Unknown, Dorothy
  Born	Abt 1926
  Gender	Female
  Political Office	Between 1980 and 1992	Appleton, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA
  Mayor Of Appleton
  Died	31 Oct 2015	Highlands Ranch, Douglas, Colorado, USA
  Obituary	3 Nov 2015
  Appleton Post Crescent
  APPLETON - Former Mayor Dorothy Johnson was remembered Tuesday as a trailblazer for women in politics and a champion for Appleton. Johnson died Saturday from natural causes at her home in Highlands Ranch, Colo., where she and her husband, Rue, lived for the past five years. She was 89. In 1980, Johnson was elected as Appleton's first and only female mayor. She served three consecutive terms, leaving office in 1992. Before her reign as mayor, she served a term on the Appleton Board of Education. "Obviously, she was a pathfinder for women," former Neenah Mayor Marigen Carpenter said. "I think she made it easier for many of the rest of us because she did such a good job." Johnson was in office when the Fox River Mall was built in Grand Chute. The mall's arrival nearly crippled downtown Appleton, the city's main retail district at the time, and forced the downtown to reinvent itself to survive. Mayor Tim Hanna, who served as an alderman during Johnson's last term, said projects like the Paper Valley Hotel, Avenue Mall (now City Center Plaza) and Houdini Plaza helped turn the downtown around. "When you look back now, Appleton did not experience as deep of a decline as so many other cities," Hanna said. "That was due to proactive things that happened under Dorothy's leadership." Carpenter said she admired Johnson. "She was farsighted, I think," Carpenter said. "Her work regarding the looming Fox River Mall and trying to position her downtown to continue in health was certainly a factor in my thinking." Hanna credited Johnson for making peace with Grand Chute. The city and town signed a border agreement during her final term. "It was one of the first ones that was negotiated in the state," Hanna said. "It was really historic." Former Post-Crescent reporter David Horst covered Johnson's administration for six years. He described her as a woman of courage and principle and said she was "absolutely dedicated to Appleton." She was also very politically astute. "I only remember one time that she was surprised by a vote," Horst said. "She always knew what was going to happen in the council meetings." The one time Johnson was surprised, the vote ended in a tie. Horst said Johnson supported the issue but believed a mayor shouldn't cast the deciding vote to make something happen. "Even though she was in favor of the issue, she voted against it to stick to her principle," he said. "Then, of course, she eventually got a reconsideration and got it anyway." After her terms as mayor, Johnson served on the Wisconsin Ethics Board for 10 years and as board president of the St. Joseph Food Program in Menasha. Johnson's son, David, said his parents moved to Colorado in 2010 to be closer to their daughters and grandchildren. He said his mother was a great woman and a fantastic mother. "Her accomplishments are myriad," David said from his home in Bethlehem, Pa. "She makes me proud, and her life motivates me to be better and to work harder as she did." Funeral services will be held Monday in Highlands Ranch. In lieu of flowers, the family requests people donate to the St. Joseph Food Program. Duke Behnke: 920-993-7176, or dbehnke@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @DukeBehnke
  News Mention	4 Nov 2015
  Appleton Post Crescent
  News this week of the passing of former Appleton Mayor Dorothy Johnson brings to mind a different kind of obituary that was almost written three decades ago - the death of downtown Appleton. The obit was never written because the patient not only didn't die but eventually, after some growing pains, thrived. Dorothy Johnson's dogged fight to keep her beloved city's downtown relevant and bustling is a big part of her legacy. Johnson, who died Saturday at the age of 89, served as mayor from 1980 to 1992. Those who were here at the time will recall that the construction of a certain mall in what was then a farm field just west of Appleton had downtown Appleton on the ropes. The battle that brewed between Appleton and Grand Chute, the rise of the Fox River Mall at the heart of it, was so testy it even drew the attention of the Washington Post in 1981. The Post reported: "Appleton's chief retail district is still right in the heart of town. The 10 central blocks of College Avenue, the city's main street, are dotted with locally owned department stores, restaurants, book stores and pharmacies - creating the kind of neat, wholesome and tax-generating central business district that many other cities Appleton's size lost years ago." Johnson, then just a year into her tenure, told the Post she intended to keep it that way. "We have a nice, busy downtown," she said. "No peep shows, nothing boarded up. But you see, if they put that mall out there, they're moving my tax base and my workforce into a cornfield outside the (city) limits. This is why we have to fight." And fight she did. But the mall was built, and it was a grand success as far as malls go. The expected retail flight from the downtown began. The pencil that would write the downtown's obituary was already being sharpened. Then Johnson turned her attention to a Plan B, the construction of a downtown mall, a venture that proved costly, controversial and, on the surface, unsuccessful. The Avenue Mall was mostly a failure as malls go, never drawing enough retail interest to make it viable. Critics with a sense of humor would dub the nearly empty mall the Johnson Space Center. But that mall, which drew so much ire that it almost drowned out Johnson's mayoral accomplishments, would eventually be transformed into City Center Plaza - mostly office space, housing, and among other things, City Hall. It would become a centerpiece of a downtown reinventing itself into a bustling entertainment district, mixing restaurants, hotels, bars, coffee shops, museums, shopping boutiques and a sprawling performing arts center. Much of that revival, including the building of the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, would come well after Johnson left office. But her determined efforts, including the 1982 construction of what is now the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel and the development of the public square known as Houdini Plaza, laid the foundation for the fight to keep the city's downtown bustling. Johnson set a tone - the downtown, a city's heart and soul, is worth fighting for - that continues to resonate all these years later. It turns out the city's first and thus far only female mayor had plenty of fight in her. And those who enjoy today's downtown Appleton - from the Saturday morning farmer's markets and summertime concerts to the glorious Mile of Music festival and bar and restaurant scene to the children's museum and art galleries - should raise a toast to those who fought the good fight. Dorothy Johnson is at the front of that line. Ed Berthiaume: 920-993-1000, ext. 213, or eberthiaume@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @EdBerthiaume
  News Mention	4 Nov 2015
  Appleton Post Crescent
  APPLETON - Former Mayor Dorothy Johnson was remembered Tuesday as a trailblazer for women in politics and a champion for Appleton. Johnson died Saturday from natural causes at her home in Highlands Ranch, Colo., where she and her husband, Rue, lived for the past five years. She was 89. In 1980, Johnson was elected as Appleton's first and only female mayor. She served three consecutive terms, leaving office in 1992. Before her reign as mayor, she served a term on the Appleton Board of Education. "Obviously, she was a pathfinder for women," former Neenah Mayor Marigen Carpenter said. "I think she made it easier for many of the rest of us because she did such a good job." Johnson was in office when the Fox River Mall was built in Grand Chute. The mall's arrival nearly crippled downtown Appleton, the city's main retail district at the time, and forced the downtown to reinvent itself to survive. Mayor Tim Hanna, who served as an alderman during Johnson's last term, said projects like the Paper Valley Hotel, Avenue Mall (now City Center Plaza) and Houdini Plaza helped turn the downtown around. "When you look back now, Appleton did not experience as deep of a decline as so many other cities," Hanna said. "That was due to proactive things that happened under Dorothy's leadership." Carpenter said she admired Johnson. "She was farsighted, I think," Carpenter said. "Her work regarding the looming Fox River Mall and trying to position her downtown to continue in health was certainly a factor in my thinking." Hanna credited Johnson for making peace with Grand Chute. The city and town signed a border agreement during her final term. "It was one of the first ones that was negotiated in the state," Hanna said. "It was really historic." Former Post-Crescent reporter David Horst covered Johnson's administration for six years. He described her as a woman of courage and principle and said she was "absolutely dedicated to Appleton." She was also very politically astute. "I only remember one time that she was surprised by a vote," Horst said. "She always knew what was going to happen in the council meetings." The one time Johnson was surprised, the vote ended in a tie. Horst said Johnson supported the issue but believed a mayor shouldn't cast the deciding vote to make something happen. "Even though she was in favor of the issue, she voted against it to stick to her principle," he said. "Then, of course, she eventually got a reconsideration and got it anyway." After her terms as mayor, Johnson served on the Wisconsin Ethics Board for 10 years and as board president of the St. Joseph Food Program in Menasha. Johnson's son, David, said his parents moved to Colorado in 2010 to be closer to their daughters and grandchildren. He said his mother was a great woman and a fantastic mother. "Her accomplishments are myriad," David said from his home in Bethlehem, Pa. "She makes me proud, and her life motivates me to be better and to work harder as she did." Funeral services will be held Monday in Highlands Ranch. In lieu of flowers, the family requests people donate to the St. Joseph Food Program. Duke Behnke: 920-993-7176, or dbehnke@postcrescent.com; on Twitter @DukeBehnke
  Reference Number	9749
  Person ID	I334911	1FamilyTree
  Last Modified	2 Sep 2018

  
  

  Family	Johnson, Rue
  Last Modified	26 Sep 2016
  Family ID	F212207	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map	Load the map	Political Office - Mayor Of Appleton - Between 1980 and 1992 - Appleton, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA Died - 31 Oct 2015 - Highlands Ranch, Douglas, Colorado, USA  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

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  Johnson, Dorothy