Dorothy A. Carley

Dorothy A. Carley, age 88, of Bourbonnais was called by her Lord to her Heavenly Home, peacefully with her family by her side, on Tuesday, November 11, 2025 after several years battling dementia and macular degeneration. She was born June 3, 1937 in Watseka, the oldest of three girls, to George & Lorina (Pfingsten) Janssen. Dorothy grew up in the Crescent City area (Iroquois County) attending grade school and graduating from Crescent-Iroquois High School in 1955. She then attended MacCormac Business College in 1956 in Kankakee and became employed at A.O. Smith Corporation in Kankakee as a bookkeeper. On August 17, 1958 she married her high school sweetheart, Richard Carley at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, where they both were members and they made their home in Seguin, TX while her husband finished college at Texas Lutheran University. She briefly worked at a furniture store in Seguin before becoming a bookkeeper at a steel mill outside of town for over two years. She held several jobs over the years, but her most favorite employment, that she would remind everyone about, was as an office manager and bookkeeper at Westwood OB-GYN in Kankakee for over twenty years. She was the mother of David & Rhonda. Besides her love towards her children, her love of life was her five grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. Besides raising a family and her jobs, she was always on the move to the activities of her children and grandchildren and supporting Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School, where her husband coached. She enjoyed traveling, which included many cruises, trips south during the winter months, and many trips to Branson in the fall with friends and family. Dorothy was very active in church activities no matter where she lived. She taught Sunday School, Bible School, and was President of WELCA, participating in Quilting ministry, helped organize many church rummage sales and helped serve meals at funerals and church activities. She loved her Lord! She frequently testified her faith in God and felt God’s grace and presence in most everything she did and the people she met over the years. If you met her, you loved her! Dorothy was a member of American Lutheran Church. Surviving are her husband of 67 years, Richard “Dick” Carley of Bourbonnais; one son, David (Becky) Carley of Thompson Station, TN; one daughter, Rhonda (Kevin) Arthur of Bradley; two sisters, Ruth (Robert) Kahl of Bourbonnais and Arlene (Bruce) Yergler of Conover, NC; five grandchildren, Elizabeth (David) Maderia, Deborah (Aaron) Gray, Hannah (Dan) Carley-Killian, Kyle (Cassidy) Arthur, and Wade (Katie) Arthur; and eleven great-grandchildren, Nathanial, Evelyn, Sonia, Carley, Abigail, Luther, Peter, Jaxson, Avery, Charles, and Owen. Dorothy is preceded in death by her parents and two great-grandchildren, Miriam and June. Cremation rites have been accorded. A memorial visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Friday, November 21, 2025 at American Lutheran Church in Bourbonnais. An additional visitation time will be held from 10 a.m. until the time of the 11 a.m. memorial service on Saturday, November 22, 2025, also at the church. Rev. Patrick Jenkins will officiate the service. Memorials may be made to the American Lutheran Capital Campaign, Alzheimer’s Association, or Uplifted Care. Arrangements by Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home in Bourbonnais.

Dorothy A. Carley

June 3, 1937 - November 11, 2025