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Dorothy Mae Clemens

November 9, 1918 - February 23, 2016

Dorothy Mae Clemens, 97, passed away on Tuesday February 23, 2016, at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, after illness. Dorothy was born November 9, 1918 in her home in Melbourne, Iowa to James Arthur and Myrtle Diggins. She graduated from Melbourne High school in 1939 after surviving the severe weather of 1936 and 1939 and the big market meltdown of 1939.
Dorothy would trek to Des Moines by bus where she attended and graduated from the Iowa School of Beauty in the fall of 1939. She would ply her trade for a short while until she married and started her family in 1941. Dorothy began her new career as a stay at home mom and would eventually have 4 children. She maintained her license to practice as a cosmetologist for years, but never did work outside the home again, just family and friends or however was brave enough to let her practice.
After a few years in Des Moines, the family packed up and moved to Marshalltown. Word has it, the town wasn’t big enough for the Coy family, so we moved again and settled in the small little town of Ankeny in 1959. She finished raising her family, and as if one family wasn’t enough, she started working outside her home taking on the responsiblities of another group of 4 kids. She had a knack for domestic chores and never skippped a beat when it came time to help out where ever there was a calling.
She was the mother of a daughter Linda Locke(Jesse) of Baton Roughe La, a daughter Patricia Louise Coy(deceased), a son David Coy of Ankeny, and another daughter Jane McCann of Lake in the Hills, Il. Dorothy was a grandparent to 7 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her mother and father, a sister, JoAnn Thompson, and a brother Donald Diggins, who had died in Italy during WWll.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, or the First United Methodist Church of Ankeny.