Dorothy Holloran Addison

Dorothy Holloran Addison died peacefully with grace and dignity of natural causes at her home in Atlanta on June 24, 2022. She was 99 years old.

Predeceased by her husband Thomas Eastbern Addison, Jr. and daughter Sara Burke Addison, as well as her parents and brother James Holloran, she is survived by her son Thomas Eastbern Addison, III (Steven Corcoran) of Bridgehampton, NY and New York, NY, daughter Dorothy Addison Hutcheson (Sam) of Westport, CT and Atlanta, and adored granddaughter and namesake Dorothy Holloran Hutcheson of New York, NY. She is also survived by her niece Lee Addison Sanford (Sandy) and nephew Edward Burke Addison, III (Susan), as well as nephews Robert Holloran, Daniel Holloran, William Peak Holloran (Shalisha) and niece Nancy Holloran Gibson (Phil).

Dot Addison was born March 1, 1923, in Lynchburg, VA to James Coulbourn and Dorothy Conrad Holloran. She graduated from that city’s E. C. Glass High School and at age sixteen entered Agnes Scott College, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with High Honors in English and mathematics in 1943. She remained devoted to and actively involved with Agnes Scott throughout her life, serving as a Trustee and Fund Chairperson of the Alumnae Association. She was awarded the “Outstanding Alumna” distinction from the college in 1985 and remained Trustee Emerita until the time of her death. It was also at Agnes Scott where she met her future husband Tom, an Emory University student, and together they settled in Atlanta after his WWII service and graduate study at Harvard Business School to begin their life together and start their family. She and Tom had been married for 57 years at the time of his death in 2001.

A devoted and lifelong member of Atlanta’s Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, she served as a Trustee and as President of The Women’s Society of Christian Service and was a member of the Harmony Sunday School Class and the Friday Prayer Group. She was also instrumental in developing, teaching and being part of the Disciple Bible Studies program at every level with hundreds of her fellow congregants.

In 2006 she was the recipient of the Atlanta Wesley Woods Foundation’s Heroes, Saints and Legends Award, which recognizes outstanding Georgians for their productive lives and contributions to healthy aging. She was a Trustee of the Georgia Association for Pastoral Care, Institutional Trustee of the Georgia Federation of Independent Colleges and was a member of The Piedmont Driving Club, The Junior League of Atlanta, The Phi Beta Kappa Society, The Rose Garden Club, where she was a past president, and the last surviving member of The Friday Ladies, a group of Atlanta women who for over 70 years met monthly for a Friday lunch to share stories, memories– and maybe a little gossip.

A true liberal in the classic, nonpolitical sense of the word, she was always curious about diverse cultures and beliefs and open to and accepting of everyone she met. Guided by her Christian faith and the assurance of the Resurrection, she loved reading and studying the Bible and pondering the mysteries of life and death. She lived her life with grace, elegance and style and was dearly loved by all who knew her.

Friends are invited to attend a Memorial Service in Celebration of Dot Addison’s life on Friday, July 1 at 11 AM in the Moore Chapel of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, 3180 Peachtree Rd, NE, Atlanta, GA 30305, with a reception immediately following in Grace Hall.

The family is especially grateful to Linda Gray, along with MaiLenda Smith, Keke Cook, Shirley Gay, Leola Bentley, Nina Thrasher, and the staff of Homestead Hospice for their devoted care and love. The family is also deeply appreciative of Dwight Allen for his friendship and for driving Dot all over Atlanta after she happily hung up her car keys on her 88th birthday.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations in Dot Addison’s memory to any of the following: Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, 3180 Peachtree Rd, NE, Atlanta, GA 30305 (prumc.org); The Sara Burke Addison Fund for Faculty Enrichment at Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave, Decatur, GA 30030 (agnesscott.edu); or The Peachtree Heights East Duck Pond and Parks, PO Box 550254, Atlanta, GA 30355 (peachtreeheightseast.org), a very special place where Dot took daily walks and made many new friends.