Dorothy Louise Miller and Grattan William Sexton

GRATTAN WILLIAM SEXTON was born May 9, 1914 in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada,^{456, 10813} and died December 11, 2008.⁴⁵⁶ He is buried in Saint Josephs Cemetery, Trentwood, Spokane, Washington.⁴⁵⁶

He married DOROTHY LOUISE MILLER on September 16, 1935 in St. Francis Church, Spokane, Spokane, Washington,¹⁰⁸¹³ daughter of MARIE ELIZABETH BIEL and ELWOOD KINGSLEY MILLER. She was born June 10, 1915 in Spokane, Spokane, Washington,⁴⁵³² and died March 18, 2005.⁴⁵³² She is buried in Saint Josephs Cemetery, Trentwood, Spokane, Washington.⁴⁵⁶

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Education

Obituaries

Spokesman-Review, June 23, 2005⁹⁴⁶⁴

Dorothy Sexton Remembered as Business Woman, Mother, Hostess

Dorothy Sexton embraced middle age by trading her ruffled apron for a business suit.

In the early 1970's, the 50-something mother of five embarked on entrepreneurship when she opened a knitting store with two girlfriends.

As the daughter of E.K. Miller, an owner of Carter-Miller Mill Furnishing Co., a Spokane company that manufactured parts for flour mills from the early 1900s until about 1970, Sexton grew up working in the family business, before graduating from Northwest Business College.

With her office management background, Dorothy Sexton's adult children weren't surprised when their mom successfully co-launched Knit n' Needle, a South Hill store that sold yarns and supplies.

"She was someone who worked hard. She tended to look for the best and be optimistic," said her son, Bob Sexton, a psychiatrist for Group Health Cooperative in Spokane.

Dorothy Sexton died on March 18 at the age of 89, having passed along a work ethic inherited from her own parents.

Born at the family home in north Spokane, Sexton graduated from Marycliff High School before earning a degree from Northwest Business College.

In the 1930s, she met her future husband Gratt Sexton at a church event. After a few dates, they realized that they shared a passion for dancing.

"We were good ballroom dancers. When we dance along we got attention. We were natural dancers I guess," said Gratt Sexton, from the apartment the couple shared at Colonial Court, a Spokane Valley assisted-living facility.

The instant chemistry led to a nearly 70 year marriage that sprouted a multigenerational tree with five children, 15 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

After becoming parents to Carole, Dennis, Greg, Robert and Patricia, the couple traded in dance floors and waltzes for family weekends at a cabin on Lake Coeur d'Alene.

At the cabin, kids and adults tried their luck at trout fishing. Gratt said he wife was lucking when it came to hooking fish.

"She'd go right off the end of the dock and catch one," her husband recalled. "She was a good gal, just an all around good pal."

Bob Sexton and his siblings grew up knowing their mom expected them to graduate from college, something they all accomplished.

"I don't recall her doing a lot of overprotecting. It was more like take care of yourself and do the right thing," Sexton said.

"the assumption was that you could—and would—make decent choices."

As a kid, Greg Sexton of East Wenatchee, Wash., remembers living in north Spokane and moving to a South Side home when he was in the sixth grade.

Neighborhood friends were comfortable using the Sexton home as headquarters, he said, because his mom "had a high tolerance for kids being kids."

Adults felt comfortable with their mother, as well, Greg's brother, Bob Sexton said.

"I think she had a spirituality that was very accepting of most people," her son explained.

For about 25 years, the couple lived in Millwood, in a home on the Spokane River, and attended St. Paschal Roman Catholic Church.

People visiting the couple's home noticed a garden full of vegetables and delicate flowers.

"She just had the magic touch with any sort of growing or foliage. She could keep a poinsettia alive all year," said her daughter-in-law Carol Sexton of Spokane.

Greg Sexton said his mom adopted both cats and dogs, giving equal preference to each.

"She was just an animal person. I think she had a soft heart when it came to animals," he said.

After the kids were raised, Dorothy and Gratt Sexton traveled throughout the United States and Mexico in their RV.

"We'd just take off when the weather broke," her husband said. "Those were good days. It was a good way to go. She just loved it."

Fluent in Spanish, his wife enjoyed traveling to Mexico, where she navigated through the street markets and conversed with the locals.

Somehow the couple made it back home in time to host huge Bloomsday celebrations.

Dennis Sexton, of Everett, said his mom's legendary carbo-loading parties attracted dozens of family members, who traveled from throughout the region to run in Bloomsday. Each year, his parents' Millwood home filled with several generations of family members who came to run the race.

Always meticulously groomed, the attractive hostess was seemingly ageless, Dennis Sexton said.

"She seemed to rise to the occasion. She did it year after year, no matter how many people were coming."

Spokesman-Review, December 16, 2008¹⁰⁸¹³

SEXTON, Grattan William

(Age 94)

Passed away on Thursday, December 11, 2008. He was born May 9, 1914 to Nora Marie Kelley and Walter George Sexton. His parents were American born and moved to Saskatchewan, Canada to homestead. Gratt was born in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada and was the sixth of nine children. The family moved to Spokane in 1926 when Gratt was in grade school. He attended Havermale Junior High School and graduated from North Central High School in 1935. He married Dorothy Louise Miller of Spokane, WA at St. Francis Church in Spokane, WA on September 16, 1935. Gratt worked as a machinist for Carter-Miller Mill Furnishing Company in Spokane. Gratt proudly became a U.S. citizen in 1938. He and Dorothy had their first and second children before the start of World War II. During World War II, Gratt served his country as a master machinist at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyards at Bremerton, WA. After World War II, the Sexton family returned to Spokane, where Gratt became co-owner and then owner of Carter-Miller Mill Furnishing Company until 1970. Gratt and Dorothy had three more children in Spokane. During th 1970's, Gratt was a property manager and realtor for Jim Black and James Bertis until his retirement in 1983. Gratt was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and was a charter member of Rotary International of Spokane. He was on the Board of Realtors and after retirement mentored businessmen through his involvement with the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). Dorothy and Gratt were active members of St. Paschal's Catholic Church on Spokane Valley, WA for over twenty-five years. They spoke with much enthusiasm and gratitude for their years spent traveling in their RV throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Gratt enjoyed hunting, fishing, boating, barbequing, ham radio operation, physical conditioning, computer operation, reading adventure novels, and connecting with extended family. In their later years Gratt and Dorothy enjoyed the care and love given to them by their family at Colonial Court on Cataldo in the Spokane Valley. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Second Harvest. He is survived by his children and their spouses: Carole Marie and Gavin K. MacHutchin, Tacoma WA, Dennis W. and Marilyn J. Sexton, Everett, WA, Greg L. and Marilyn S. Sexton, East Wenatchee, WA, Patricia L. Rice and Michael G. Hottott, Tacoma, WA; sixteen grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren. A rosary and memorial service will be held on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 1 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Home followed by an inurnment at St. Joseph's Cemetery on Trent in the Spokane Valley.

Census Records

Date	Location	Enumerated Names
January 10, 19204559	Spokane, Spokane, Washington	Elwood Kingsley Miller Marie Elizabeth Biel Dorothy Louise Miller
April 8, 19304597	Five Mile, Spokane, Washington	Elwood Kingsley Miller Marie Elizabeth Biel Dorothy Louise Miller Lois Marie Miller
April 10, 19402696	Five Mile, Spokane, Washington	Elwood Kingsley Miller Marie Elizabeth Biel Dorothy Louise Miller Lois Marie Miller Grattan William Sexton