Dr. Dorothy M. Haith passed on Saturday, May 2, 2020 at Magnolia Creek Assisted Living Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  Private Graveside services will be 1:00 P.M. Friday at Greenview Cemetery, Reidsville, NC.  Public viewing will be held Thursday 1:00-7:00 P.M. at McLaurin Funeral Home.

Dr. Dorothy M. Haith was born on February 13, 1929 in Rockingham County to the late Eugene Haith and Nannie W. Haith Pritchett.  She departed this life on Saturday, May 2, 2020 at Magnolia Creek Assisted Living Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  In addition to her parents, her brothers, Herbert Pritchett and Paul Pritchett, Sr. preceded her in death.

Dorothy was educated in the public schools of Rockingham County and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in the class of 1947.  Because education has always been precious to her, she furthered her education by earning her undergraduate degree from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1952.   While at Shaw, she learned about the institution's proud history as being home to Leonard Medical School, the country's first four-year medical school and one of 14 such institutions founded shortly after the Civil War to teach medicine to freedmen.  Dr. Haith said "You have to put things in perspective because there were very few Black educated people in the U.S. at that time.  But there were teachers from UNC and from Duke University who came to Shaw and taught at the newly developed school for freedmen.  For that, she has always had a great appreciation, and gave scholarships that "honor a legacy of teaching as well as learning" at various universities as well as the UNC School of Medicine.  Additionally, she earned a second undergraduate degree from North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina and two Masters' Degrees and a Ph. D. in Library Science from Indiana University.

She described herself as someone who has lived African American History, having lived a long and fulfilling life.  "I've lived a wonderful life, traveling around the world, not once, but twice, she said, having worked at some of the most prestigious universities in the country, most recently at Fort Valley State University at Fort Valley, Georgia.  Having experienced many of the positives and negatives that life has to offer, she joined First Baptist Church in Reidsville at an early age and continued to remain continue through the miles and the years.  She also affiliated herself in later years with Chapel Hill United Methodist Church.   Dorothy was an avid reader and loved walking everywhere she needed to go and playing tennis until her health failed.

Those left to cherish her memories include:  niece, Diane Reid, and nephew, Paul Pritchett, Jr. (LaVerne), all of Reidsville, NC; cousins, Edith Blackwell (Melvin), Hazel Bolden (Cecil), and Wilma Thacker, all of Reidsville, NC; great nieces and nephews; and a plethora of other relatives and friends.

McLaurin Funeral Home is serving the family.