Dorothy Gentry, 90, of Hartford, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012, at the Ohio County Hospital in Hartford. She was born Sept. 15, 1921, daughter of the John Harvey Free and Minnie Dale Burch Free, of Decatur and Moulton, Ala.
She was married Feb. 12, 1942, to Harold Clifton Gentry, a native of Olaton, who was employed in Alabama and they moved back to Kentucky. He was in service during World War II and a prisoner of war, captured during the invasion of Normandy, France, on June 7, 1944. He died May 4, 1990.
Mrs. Gentry was a member of Hartford Church of Christ the time the local congregation was started in 1949, and a former member of Grant Street Church of Christ in Decatur, Ala. She was a former columnist, writer and editor of The Ohio County News and later columnist for The Ohio County Times-News in Hartford. She was an employee of the Selective Service prior to her work with newspapers.
She was the author of three books, “Life and Legend of Lawrence County, Alabama”, “Law of the Heart” (a story of Bill Smeathers, among first settlers of Ohio County, Ky.) and “Rough River Ripples,” (a compilation of excerpts from her weekly column in local newspapers).
She promoted and organized the Ohio County Historical Society in 1971 and served as president a number of terms, resigning December, 2000.
Survivors include one daughter, Carolyn Jane Gentry King, of Hartford; one son, Major John M. Gentry and his wife, Camille, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; a stepson, William Moody and his wife, Sherri, of Tempe, Ariz.; four grandsons, Matthew King and his wife, Amy, of Lexington, Ky., Wesley King and his wife, Brooke, of Owensboro, Ky., Timothy Gentry of Edwardsville, Ill., and Will Gentry of Colorado Springs, Colo.; two granddaughters, Kellie King Stuart and her husband, Bryan of Owensboro and Emily King of Owensboro; six great-grandchildren, Evan, Annelise, Abby, Maggie, Nolen, and Miles; one brother, Roy Free of Trinity, Ala.; one sister, Doris Putnam and her husband, Frank, of Huntsville, Ala.; one brother-in-law, T.J Wright of St. John, Ind., as well as a number of nephews and nieces.
Funeral Services will be Saturday, Aug. 4, at 11 a.m. at Miller-Schapmire Funeral Home. Visitation will be Friday, Aug. 3, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. until service time at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery in Hartford.