McGill marks 90th with drive-by party
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Gathering with Dorothy McGill for her 90th birthday at Parkview Manor July 24 are her grandson Patrick Hodges, his wife Kathryn and great granddaughter Kate of Amarillo, daughters Sandra Wright of San Antonio and Jan Hodges of Amarillo, and special friends Julianna Baumgardner of Wellington and Tony Carter of Seminole. (The Red River Sun/Bev Odom)
By Bev Odom/The Red River Sun—
WELLINGTON — Planned by daughters Jan Hodges of Amarillo and Sandra Wright of San Antonio, family and friends greeted Dorothy McGill with a drive-by party at Parkview Manor Assisted Living on her 90th birthday, July 24, at 4:30 p.m.
Born July 24, 1930 in Salinas, Calif. to the late Sidney Smithy Baird and Lucille Black Baird, Dorothy had four siblings.
“My family along with around 20 others traveled to California every year to help with vegetable and fruit harvest,” she said. “Mama had me during one of those trips.”
Dorothy married Sam McGill in Wheeler Nov. 3, 1945.
“The good Lord blessed us with three children,” McGill said.
McGill’s son Sidney Coy, who is now deceased, had a daughter, Sherri McGill. McGill’s daughter, Sandra and husband Chuck Wright, have three girls. Grandaughter Charli is married and has two girls; Khaki and her husband have two boys; and Courtney also is deceased.
McGill’s youngest, daughter Jan and her husband David Hodges, have three boys, Preston and twins Austin and Patrick. Patrick is married and has a little girl.
“I lost Sam in 2007, Sidney in 2008 and Courtney in 2009,” McGill said.
Dorothy and Sam lived at Quail until 1950 when they moved to the “big city” of Wellington, wrote Dorothy in their biography for the Volume II Collingsworth County history book published in 2006.
Sam owned and operated Sam’s Garage until 1993 when he sold the business to J.D. and Lisa Hamby and returned to farming and ranching.
Dorothy worked as a dental assistant for 13 years for Dr. J. Frank Johnson. In 1970, she took her mother’s position at the cable company. She rose through the ranks into management within a year when her mother died.
In 1997 Dorothy retired. Being a parent, grandparent and now a great grandmother to five serves as the number one passion in life for Dorothy.
She and Sam also loved to dance.
“Every Saturday night we drove to McLean to eat at the Red River Steakhouse and to dance at the country club,” said Dorothy.
Until December 2019, Dorothy continued to live in her home just a block from Parkview Manor. The past six months she spent some time in the hospital in Amarillo, then back and forth between daughter Sandra’s home in Amarillo and Jan’s in San Antonio.
In July she made the assisted living her permanent residence.
“I missed everybody here in Wellington, but now I can’t see them except through my window,” McGill said. “We’ve never been in this kind of mess before. I can go anywhere in the building but cannot leave. I’m going to make the best of it until something turns loose.”
She did complement the cook.
“The food here is good.”
