Dorothy Marie (Fortney) Hope

Funeral services for Dorothy Marie (Fortney) Hope, 86, of Pawhuska, OK, were held Saturday, September 9, 2023, at Nelagoney Baptist Church in Nelagoney, OK. Phil Johnson officiated, and burial was in Nelagoney Cemetery in Nelagoney, OK. Casket bearers were Lester Moore, Dale Jackson III, Terry James Gillett Jr., Wesley Jackson, Michael Scharnhorst Jr., and Austin Breshears. Honorary casket bearers were Dakota Wadsworth, Jedediah Baird, Daniel Wadsworth Jr., Dennis Wadsworth Jr., Samuel “DJ” Wadsworth Jr., Dwayne Tayrien, and Josh Wadsworth.

Dorothy was born on January 23, 1937, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma to James Otis Fortney and Irene Jeanette (Smith) Fortney. She passed away September 5, 2023, in Pawhuska, OK.

She was one of eighteen children. Dorothy moved with her family to the Darwin, California area where she spent some of her childhood before returning to the Pawhuska area. She married Samuel Lee Wadsworth on December 23, 1953, and welcomed 7 beautiful children into the family they created. Though they divorced in 1976, they remained friends and shared some holidays together with their children and grandchildren in later years. She married James “Jim” Edward Hope and enjoyed many years together, waltzing across Texas, before settling in Dorothy’s hometown. While raising her family, Dorothy worked at the Pawhuska Sewing Factory and the Pawhuska Nursing Home in the laundry department. She was a devoted wife, loving mother, proud grandmother (great and great-great grandmother too), sister, aunt, and friend to many. Family was everything to Dorothy, her daughters and sisters were her very best friends and she loved her baby boys, and grandsons. But she loved her granddaughters most! She was a citizen of the Seneca Cayuga Nation, coming from the Turtle Clan.

She is survived by her children, Dennis Lynn Wadsworth Sr. of Nelagoney, Debra Lynelle Wadsworth of Bartlesville, Samuel Dean “Deano” Wadsworth Sr. and wife, Monica of Wynona, Susan DeeAnn “DeeDee” Wadsworth (the favorite) of the home, and Sandra Denice Smith and husband, Ronnie of Pawhuska; daughter-in-law, Dee Ann Wadsworth of Nelagoney; 23 grandchildren; 65 great-grandchildren; and 19 great-great-grandchildren; brothers, Jacob Alonzo Fortney and wife, Flo of Bartlesville, David Walter Fortney and wife, Charlotte of Nelagoney, and Darwin Fortney of PA; sister Mavis Redeagle and husband, Charles of Pawhuska; and many other relatives and friends.

What a legacy of love she leaves behind!

She was preceded in death by her husband, James Hope; her eldest son, Daniel Lee Wadsworth Sr.; her forever baby daughter, Danna Lynette Wadsworth; her parents, James and Irene Fortney; daughter-in-law, Rita Faye Wadsworth; grandson,  Samuel Adam Lee Smith; her brothers, Leo Merchant, Lincoln Fortney, and James Fortney; sisters, Lou Ann Washington, Sue Jones, Billie Redeagle, Jean Meeks, Edith “Deed” Miller, Nancy Penland, Madelyn “Sissy” Niblack, and Edna “Cotton” Briggs; along with numerous nieces, nephews, and other relatives and loved ones.

Arrangements and services were entrusted to Johnson Funeral Home, Sperry.

Online condolences to the family can be made at johnsonsperry.com.