The Life of Dorthy Day

Dorothy Day’s life did not start out all sunshine and rainbows. She was born on January 14, 1912, in Rockford, Illinois. She was a tiny baby only weighing about four pounds and was born with a clubbed foot. Her mother, Edna Day, and father, Harry Day, worked hard to provide for their children. When she was about five years old, she gained a little sister named, Shirley Loraine. At the age of ten, her parents divorced, and her father moved out East. He rarely contacted the family. In school, she was often teased for having a clubbed foot. They called her “Little Crippled Girl” all through her school years.

Edna raised the two girls with the help of her grandma Ledgett. She worked hard at multiple jobs in the early nineteenth century which was difficult for a mother. Dorothy often told the story of Saturday nights when they would take their baths, crawl into bed with their mom and she would read to them.

Edna Ledgett remarried a man named Harry Rose, he was not fond of the two girls Dorothy and Shirley. Dorothy was made to work outside of the home while attending junior high school. She lived with a family cleaning and babysitting. She eventually dropped out of high school because she received poor grades. After her mother divorced Harry Rose, Edna bought a boarding house where Dorothy helped her mother with paperwork and upkeep. She was an avid reader and that was something that she used to learn new things.

In 1930 she married George Nelson and had two children, Betty Lou, and Richard Gerald. The relationship did not last, and she was remarried in 1937 to a man named Louis Cronk. They had two more children, Mary Ellen, and Kitty Lou. Dorothy enjoyed being a housewife and raising her children. She was committed to her family and took care of her in-laws during the summer. Her mother, Edna, stayed with her until she passed in 1947. She took care of her ailing blind grandfather as well in his final years. She was a loving and caring family woman. 

Dorothy was an active woman and as soon as the youngest children were in school, she went to work cleaning houses to help provide for her family. She was active in the church and was a part of her community. In 1971 tragedy struck again in her family and her beloved husband Louis passed away from a heart attack. With her children all moving on with their lives she was lonely. She never wanted to be a burden on her children, and they never looked at her that way. In 1976 she remarried again to a man she knew from her school days, Earl Mallicoat. They lived in Arkansas until Earl became ill and moved back to Rockford. There she stayed after Earl passed in 1996. She passed away on May 21, 2000. She was missed by her surviving family including me.

I remember as a teenager she came to visit me in Seattle. I went to Pikes Place Market with her and my family. She was confined to a wheelchair, and I oversaw controlling it. We came to this ramp, and I lost control of it. A nice man tried to stop her, and she thought he was attacking her. Great Grandma Dorothy smacked him with her purse and yelled. She was a feisty lady to the very end. 

Bouma, Angela, and Betty Lou Bouma. Dorthy Day. Personal, June 2001. 

Bouma, Betty Lou. Letter to Angela Bouma. “Dorthy Day.” Rockford, Illinois: Private Collection, June 2001.

 

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