Dorothy P Kachtik July 19, 1919 – November 27, 2018 Share this obituary Send Sympathy Gifts Send Private Condolences| Send Sympathy Card Dorothy was born to William Hill Pearce and Clora Rogers Pearce in Moscow, Tennessee on July 19, 1919. Her father was a mail carrier and ran the watermill on Wolf River in Moscow. The family home was near the river; so, Dorothy, her brother and four sisters spent lots of their free time swimming and playing in the river.
Those were some of her fondest memories from childhood. Dorothy’s family moved to the drier climate of San Angelo, Texas when her father developed tuberculosis in 1935. After only a year, the family moved for the final time to San Antonio, Texas.
Most of Dorothy’s adult life was spent in San Antonio until she met and married Emil T Kachtik, the love of her life, in 1978. She followed her husband to the beautiful Texas Hill Country in Fredericksburg. Emil and Dorothy enjoyed dancing – so many weekends found them going to dances with friends to two-step the night away.
They also enjoyed traveling and seeing family and friends, which they did as often as they could, whether it was driving to the Rio Grand Valley to visit Emil’s extended family, or to San Antonio to visit Emil’s son, Gene Kachtik, and daughter, Catherine Matthews, or to Possum Kingdom Lake to spend time with Dorothy’s brother and sisters. Their love for family and spirit for adventure spurred road trips to Connecticut to visit Dorothy’s daughter, Carla Kutzer Mills and her husband, Wayne and their sons, Bradley and Bryan; and to Oklahoma City to see Emil’s daughter, Mary Wanda Draper. Dorothy’s enthusiasm to travel and sight-see was only surpassed by her love for her family.
After Emil’s death in 2004 at the age of 96, Dorothy decided to move to the northeast to be near Carla. Now that was a real change for this southern girl! She persevered and advanced her driving skills, at the age of 86, by driving when there was snow on the ground.
Carla was fortunate to be able to share those next thirteen years with her mom, and that brought happiness, lots of laughter, and well-being to each of them. Always a conscientious driver, she turned-in her keys at the age of 93. By that time, she had moved to Vero Beach, FL, only because her daughter and son-in law, Ed Boardman, decided to get out of the bitter New England winters by relocating to Florida – why in heavens name not Texas?
! Dorothy never understood; but, she took advantage of living in Florida to be closer to her family. Her nephew and adopted son, Buddy Peters, and his daughter, Billie, were able to travel from their home in Georgia to visit her several times a year.
She truly treasured time spent with them. “What a gift! ” Dorothy often expressed.
Her end of life was met peacefully at VNA Hospice House in Vero Beach on November 27, 2018, at the age of 99 with Carla by her side. She is greatly missed; but, her loving legacy of kindness, caring, love and compassion will live on in those she leaves behind. Her faith in God was strong so we confidently know she lives with all her family in heaven.
She was pre-deceased by her husband, Emil T Kachtik; step-son, Emil Eugene “Gene” Kachtik; step-daughter, Catherine Matthews; brother, John Pearce; her four sisters, Billie Deane Pearce Peters Cone, Eleanor Pearce Etter, Virginia Lucille Pearce Johnson, and Wilma Pearce Black; and by her son-in-law Wayne E. Mills. She is survived by her daughter, Carla Mills Boardman, and son-in-law, Edwin Boardman, of Vero Beach, Florida; nephew/son, Buddy Peters, and his daughter, Billie Dean Peters of Warner Robins, Georgia; step-daughter, Mary Wanda Draper, of Fredericksburg, Texas; grandsons, Bradley Stephen Mills, and his wife, Joy Mills, of Canton, Connecticut; and Bryan Wayne Mills, of Barkhamsted, Connecticut; two great-grandchildren, Tyler Mills and Lynzee Mills, of Canton, Connecticut; and several nephews.
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