Dorothy "Dot" Caswell Pehl

Dorothy (also known as Dot) Caswell Pehl (age 91) died on September 26, 2015 at the Pavilion in Penney Retirement Community in Penney Farms, Florida. A resident of PRC for 12 years, Dot and her husband Max Milburn (Mel) Pehl (who died in 2011) previously lived in Melrose, Florida. A native Floridian, Dot was born in Palatka to Helen and Virgil Caswell. Dot grew up in Alachua and graduated with a degree in Social Work from Florida State College for Women in 1945. She met Mel in Tallahassee during college and they married in 1946. Their first year of marriage was spent in Waukesha, Wisconsin; later they moved to Chicago where Mel completed graduate school after which they moved to Washington, DC for his work with the State Department. During these years, Dot held jobs as a social worker with the YWCA, a girls’ co-op in Chicago and The American Red Cross. After the birth of their first child, Dot and Mel moved to the cooperative community of Greenbelt, Maryland where they had two more daughters. In 1962 the family moved with Mel’s job to Karachi, Pakistan where Dot enjoyed learning about the culture and developing friendships among the Pakistani people. Upon their return to the US, they lived in Washington, DC and then moved to Bethesda, Maryland until Mel’s retirement in 1980. In 1974 Dot completed a master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education at George Washington University and subsequently worked as a teacher with Easter Seals and later as a Parent-Teacher Liaison in the Montgomery County (MD) school district. In the 1960s and 1970s she was an active member of Bethesda Congregational Church, United Church of Christ. A tireless advocate for social justice issues, she was an avid supporter of the Civil Rights movement, Fair Housing legislation and, later, full inclusion of gay/lesbian persons in the United Methodist Church. She was one of the founders of Bethesda Help, an early hotline for people needing food or financial assistance. When she moved back to Florida in 1980, she became a member of Keystone United Methodist Church where she was active in United Methodist Women and served as a Director of Children’s Ministries. She worked for several years as a teacher in Palatka schools in special education and she volunteered with Lake Area Ministries. In 2003 Dot and Mel moved to Penney Retirement Community where she served as chair of the Crop Walk and was a member of the Social Concerns Committee as well as Penney Memorial Church. Dorothy’s younger sister, Marjorie DeLoach, died in June of this year. Dot is survived by her daughter Wendy Pehl Minnix and husband Michael Minnix of Carlisle, Pennsylvania and her daughter Cynthia Pehl and husband Douglas Metz of Eldersburg, Maryland. Another daughter, Bonnie Elaine Pehl, died in 1961 at the age of six of Leukemia. Dot is also survived by two grandchildren, James Minnix of Richmond, Virginia and Kelly Evans and husband Brett Evans of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In addition, Dot is survived by five step-grandchildren – Karl Metz, Blake Metz, Luke Metz, Mark Metz and Emily Metz; nine step-great grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom were very special to her. Dot was above all a people person who loved meeting and getting to know people wherever she lived. She valued her friends and family and especially enjoyed opportunities to visit and travel with them. She cared deeply for children, persons with special needs, and people struggling to meet basic survival needs. She loved the Pavilion and hospice staff and PRC residents who cared for and loved her during her last seven years of life when she could no longer live independently. During that period she was sustained by wonderful care, strong friendships, family visits and above all her deep and abiding Christian faith. A memorial service will be held on November 21st at 10am at Penney Memorial Church in Penney Farms, FL. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to PET Florida Penney Farms, P.O. Box 919, 4566 Lewis Avenue, Penney Farms, FL 32079 or the Shepherding the Shepherd Fund, which provides financial assistance to individuals seeking entrance to PRC whose careers have been spent in ministry or service. Checks for this fund should be made payable to PRC, PO Box 555, Penney Farms, FL 32079 (please note Shepherding the Shepherd Fund in the memo line). Please sign the family’s online register book at www.broadusraines.com. Arrangements are under the care of Broadus-Raines Funeral Home, 501 Spring St., Green Cove Springs, FL (904) 284-4000.