Dora Jean Scott Crenna was born in Seattle, WA on November 23, 1934. She passed away at her home in Hobart, WA on January 16, 2016.
She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Jim; daughters Jackie (Malcolm) Currie of Maple Valley and Debbie Crouse of Kent; grandchildren Jamie (Maranda) Crouse and Dianna Currie; great grandchildren James and Mataio Crouse; brothers Wallace Scott Jr, Michael (Carole) Scott of Hobart and Patricia Scott of Hobart. Dora Jean was preceded in death by her father, Wallace Scott and her mother, Viola Scott Graves.
Dora Jean was raised on the family farm in Hobart. She attended Tahoma High School and was active in sports and on the cheer leading squad. She was an avid horse woman and talked about riding from Hobart to Issaquah on her Morgan Mare with a colt alongside to participate in the Issaquah Days Parade.
Dora Jean met the love of her life, Jim in 1950 and they were married on August 3, 1951. She moved to Seattle and the two were virtually inseparable. They had a wrecking yard located on what was Empire Way, a used car lot in Rainier Beach and Crenna/Merlino Used Cars in Columbia City prior to opening Columbia Auto Center. Dora Jean worked at the old Why Grocery in Bryn Mawr during the 1960’s. On May 3rd, 1979 she and Jim opened Columbia Towing next to Columbia Auto Center. They began with three trucks and two employees. In 1983 they purchased Totem Towing located in Rainier Valley. When they retired in 1996 they had over 20 trucks and employees.
In the 50’s while they were working to raise their family, they both enjoyed Jim racing stock cars. They moved to a home on Lake Washington in 1960 and enjoyed boating and water skiing. They belonged to the Rainier Yacht club and spent many happy times cruising the San Juan Islands with friends. When Dora Jean and Jim retired they would spend winters at their home in Sun City, Arizona and summers enjoying their beach home on Whidbey Island. Fishing at Whidbey was one of her favorite things.
In the last two years they purchased a home in Hobart under a mile from the family farm. Jim would always kid her that “You can take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the girl”. This was so true. She was thrilled when they bought their home in Hobart. She would say that she was “coming home”.
She was loved, and will be missed by all, especially her husband and family.
A celebration of Dora Jean’s life is planned for Saturday, February 6th beginning at 2pm.
Please contact Columbia Towing – 206-722-2535 for the address.
