Betty Ann Dovenbarger

MADISON - Betty Ann (Lowe) Dovenbarger, age 84, passed away on Thursday, January 16, 2014. She was born on June 28, 1929 in Zanesville, Ohio to R. Emmet and Isabel (Morgan) Lowe. She attended Zanesville public schools before entering Miami University, Oxford, Ohio where she received a BS degree in Business Administration in 1951. Following graduation from Miami, she married William V. Dovenbarger Jr. They lived in Cincinnati for five years where she worked in the Advertising Department of Procter & Gamble and he obtained his medical degree and internship. They traveled some while he spent over two years in military service and then returned to Cincinnati for his specialty training. Practice at the Marshfield Clinic brought them to Wisconsin in 1961 and they raised their four children in Marshfield. When the marriage ended in 1980 Betty moved to Madison. She worked for a brief time at the Higher Education Aids board and then for eleven years at the University of Wisconsin Hospital. She was assistant to the Director of Clinical Affairs and in that capacity coordinated house staff affairs and credentialing and organizational affairs of the medical staff. She is survived by her children Diane Meissner (Jerrold), W. Vance Dovenbarger III (Brooke), Eric Lowe Dovenbarger (Cindy), and Kurt Morgan Dovenbarger; eight grandchildren; and eight great grandchildren. Betty was predeceased by her parents, grandson, daughter-in-law and her special friend Joseph M. Green MD. During the Marshfield years and since retirement she pursued: Volunteer work on political and social issues including civil and women's rights, family planning, environmental efforts, and Death with Dignity; Family history research; Outdoor activities in the water as well as golfing, hiking, camping, and cottaging; Arts & crafts including needlework, lapidary, and stained glass. She loved to travel both domestic and abroad visiting ancestral villages in England and Wales; she also took great pleasure visiting her friend Joe Green in Arizona and Northwestern Wisconsin. A memorial service will be held at FIRST UNITARIAN SOCIETY, 900 University Bay Dr., Madison on Tuesday, January 21, 2014 beginning at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Compassion & Choices of Wisconsin, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, First Unitarian Society of Madison, or the Environmental organization of your choice.