Long Time Resident of Cupertino

Dorothy Ann Stow passed away on November 10, 2021 at the age of 85 in Sunnyvale after many difficult years dealing with Alzheimer's disease. She is survived by her loving family, including her husband of 67 years, Darryl Stow, her two children, Douglas Stow (Chris) and Denise Stow (Alex), her niece, Lisa Van Sickle and her two grandsons, Dylan Stow (Robyn) and Parker Stow. She also had two great-granddaughters.

Dorothy was born September 10, 1936 to Harley and Dorothy Bowman. Dorothy was the youngest of their four children. The family lived on a farm east of Bakersfield. Dorothy was a star athlete at Fairfax Middle School. Dorothy attended Bakersfield High School and in the fall of 1952, a fateful event happened; she was "picked up on Weedpatch Highway" by a fellow named Darryl who happened to be driving her high school bus while he attended Bakersfield College. Later on, Dorothy asked Darryl to go to church with her and the rest is history. After Dorothy graduated with honors from Bakersfield High School, she and Darryl were married and they lived in Merced, then moved to Ely, Nevada where Douglas was born and to Fresno where Denise was born. After Darryl graduated from Fresno State in 1957 and started his career with Pacific Telephone, the family subsequently moved for the company to Bakersfield, Sacramento and back to Fresno before settling in "God's country", as Dorothy called it, in Cupertino in 1966. While moving around, Dorothy attended several colleges before enrolling in De Anza College in Cupertino where she earned a degree in Sociology with highest honors.

Dorothy then embarked on a three-pronged career of wife and mother, community leader and Enrolled Agent - an income tax specialist with her own tax clients for over 25 years, retiring in 1995 while associated with Claudia Hill and Tax Mam, Inc. She was not only an excellent tax specialist for her dedicated clients, but, as she would say, equally involved as a counselor and good listener.

After her children were no longer dependent on her, Dorothy became very involved in community service - a calling about which she felt quite strongly. As a Cupertino resident for 53 years, she served as board chair for Cupertino Community Services and a board member of the organization for 12 years; a founder and President of the Cupertino Library Foundation; Vice President - Finance for the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of their annual Citizen of the Year event for three years; President of Cupertino Inner Wheel Club; PTA President for Eaton Elementary School and member of the De Anza College Commission for 10 years, working on a number of their fundraising events. Dorothy was also very active in local political campaigns including Cupertino Measure T for the purchase of Blackberry Farm and Cupertino Measure A for the building of a new Cupertino library - Dorothy's great passion, for which she received commendations from the Cupertino Library Foundation and the Public Works Director for the City of Cupertino. She also worked for friends on a number of campaigns for Cupertino City Council and the county Board of Supervisors.

For all of her community work, Dorothy received a number of honors including: West Valley Community Services Champion of Compassion Award in 2016; Cupertino Chamber of Commerce Co-Citizen of the Year award (with Darryl) in 1999; CREST award from the City of Cupertino in 1997; Sertoma International Service to Mankind Award in 1997 and the Cupertino Community Services Soup Can Award for service to the organization. She also made the front page of the Cupertino Courier issue of July 23, 1997 as "Mrs. Cupertino." But her greatest honor was being considered by her family as a wonderful loving wife, mother, aunt and grandmother.

Dorothy was a very compassionate, caring and giving person, being generous of her time and treasure. She was also well known for her sense of humor and quick wit. Dorothy loved animals of all kinds, especially the family's two Golden Retrievers that she cared for and took on daily walks. Dorothy and Darryl were patrons of the arts, especially live Broadway theater, of which they attended more than 300 performances. They also enjoyed symphonic orchestra performances where they were season ticket holders for many years with the San Jose Symphony and its successor, Symphony Silicon Valley. And they were 35+ year season ticket holders for Dick Henning's Foothill College Celebrity Forum.

Dorothy enjoyed travel and especially enjoyed taking her extended family to Hawaii (6 trips), Alaska and the Galapagos Islands. But her favorite place away from home was the oceanfront beach house the family rented for some 45 years in Cayucos, California. Her family will miss her very much.

For the past two years Dorothy has been in care facilities. The family would like to give special thanks to wonderful and dedicated caregivers; Gayle, Norma, Andrea, Soraya, Melissa, Millie and the whole memory care team at Sunrise of Sunnyvale; to Theresa, Mary Lou and her team at Sunny Orchard Place in Sunnyvale; and to Suncrest Hospice caregivers Sargon and Mary Lou. We are so grateful for the loving way they cared for Dorothy.

A celebration of life will be held at a later time. Anyone wishing to make a charitable donation in Dorothy's name is asked to consider West Valley Community Services, Dorothy's favorite charity for many years for the critical work they do in our community serving those in need.