Dorothy “Dorie” Margaret Warner Sills, 1920-2016, died in Wilmette, Illinois on Sunday, June 5. She was a resident of Evanston, Winnetka, Wilmette and Wayne, Illinois, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Dallas, Texas, and Washington, D.C. She attended North Shore Country Day School, Northampton School for Girls in Easthampton, Mass. and Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She married Clarence William Sills Jr. in June 1941 and was later married to Frank Ryburn Jr. of Dallas, Texas. She led an active life, from volunteer nursing during and after World War II, heading the annual Wayne Art Show and one of her favorite activities – running the annual Christmas pageant at the Little Home Church by the Wayside in Wayne. She worked as an interior decorator for a number of years. She loved Chicago and regularly attended the theater, ballet, symphony, art shows and was an avid museum goer. She belonged to the Women’s Athletic Club, Dunham Woods Riding Club, and Lake Geneva Yacht Club. She was a devoted member of the First Congregational Church of Wilmette. She spent a lifetime gathering friends who remained devoted to her through thick and thin. She loved to entertain and did it often and well. Dorie wanted to be and always was at the head of the parade. She was a great story teller and wonderful poet of family events. She is predeceased by her beloved parents Dorothy Haskins Warner and Rawleigh Warner and her sisters, Mary Clifford and Suzanne Kenly, and brother Rawleigh Warner Jr. She is survived by five children, Peter (Andrea), Gay, Hilary and Casey (Anne) and step-son Frank S. Ryburn (Mary Jane) as well as in-laws Elizabeth Sills and Bill Hoar; eight grandchildren; and seven great grandchildren. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews who remember her with great love and affection.
Dorothy Warner Sills ’38
