Dorothy Marie Guenther

Dorothy Marie (Saltzgever) Guenther was a mom to two sons and one daughter grandmother of two and great-gramma of one. She was a lifelong military family member and over 60 year resident of Manchester at her home she so loved on Amherst St.

Born at Ft. Totten Army Base in Long Island, NY on June 19, 1929, she was the daughter of Col. George Samuel Saltzgever USAF (Ret) and Anna Marie (Kennedy) Saltzgever of Manchester, NH. She attended parochial schools moving with her military dad and attended Mary Star of the Sea Catholic elementary school Honolulu, and Stella Maris Mary Star of the School, Hampton, Virginia as well as in Presque Isle, Maine. She graduated from St Joseph's Girls HS in Manchester, while her dad's squadron was at Grenier Field.

An honor student, she earned her bachelor's dual degree in English and Philosophy, Summa Cum Laude High honors at Mount Saint Mary College, Hooksett, NH with a minor in Spanish literature.

After a full college day, she went home and cared for her mother Anna and little sister Margaret, doing college homework late at night in the room while watching Margaret. She walked to Elm St. for the bus to college, in cold winters and had perfect attendance. In summer, she said she loved Hampton beach and worked with college girls in her class there at the old casino pavilion, later at the Puritan candy store with friends of the family while attending school full time.

Her Catholic education through her life provided the blueprint for her family. She quietly lived the teachings of the Blessed Mother and Jesus but never wore her faith on her sleeve. She was an avid reader of books on history and the US Constitution and was recently reading the newest copies.
She often offered to help her children research college term papers, reviewing grammar and footnotes to the point other students requested her tutoring!

She married Francis Xavier Guenther, of Dedham, MA after he graduated from Saint Anselm College in Manchester and entered the Air Force and began her own military family life.

She left NH with her son Michael a baby, traveling for many weeks on steam ships as a young mother to Landstuhl, Germany where Mark was born.
A steam ship brought her family back to the states to Oklahoma AFB and Luke AFB in Arizona where her daughter Elaine was born and then Mississippi, returning to Manchester in 1968 after Francis retired.
A cherished home at 591Amherst in Manchester was chosen in a neighborhood she so loved for rest of her life.

During her life she was a certified elementary teacher, and volunteered at Air Force family Chapel to help children.
Traveling four times thru the original Panama Canal with her parents and later with her own baby sons, she crossed over both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, and spoke of standing on a perch touching tree branches, hanging flowers as the ships squeezed thru just inches from the land and locks of the Canal.
She had beautiful stories of her childhood days in Honolulu and was there before and after Pearl Harbor.

She was a lifelong member of the ladies Sodality of the Blessed Mother, a charitable and community service guild, and joined each chapter as she arrived.
In her early career she worked as an Elementary educator.
After retirement in Manchester, she continued to work as a substitute teacher, volunteering at various local parish schools and at St Joseph School.
Her important work as she called it, was spearheading early local chapters of the first " Catholics Come Home " programs.

She took great joy in her yard and garden work, and her home maintenance and it was a place she deeply cherished and was proud of.
She was always satisfied with what she had and was therefore a good steward of her blessings. She wanted to have a home for her children so no matter what stage of life they would always have her home to come to for whatever moral and loving support she was able to give and affectionately called it "Eagles Nest" with a big smile.

She always said she wanted to keep her home up to provide for anyone of her children that ever needed her.
Patriotism was a trait of Dorothy and she was a Gold Star Wives Inc member recognizing spouses of military members who died due to 100% service connected injuries/illnesses. She was a member of the Disabled American Veterans ,MOAA, lifelong donor to the Humane Society as she had a great love of her pets.

St Joseph Cathedral programs and its restoration were projects near to her heart and she loved St. Joseph's Cathedral since she was a girl.
She was particularly devoted, tireless, and selfless every day of her life to the care of her family, regardless of their need or age, and cherished the ability to serve them, never saying "no" to any request for help or time. She was the calming stable words of wisdom and a unlimited listener and supporter, even in times of her own grave or feeling unwell she placed her family's heart and soul ahead of her own always.
After her granddaughter's mother died, Dorothy stepped up in her golden years to care for her so her son could continue working.

She loved that and believed it was chosen by God and the Blessed Mother to execute that to the best of her ability as a grandmother. She was a figure at school cross country meets and helped her granddaughter host pasta dinners for the team at her son's home.
She was a person of stable and steady support, courageous in her loss of her son Mike, always making sure others were taken care of before taking care of her own grief.

As her hobby besides garden and yard work, she had her pets thru the years and was a gentle caregiver to her kids cats Twinkel, Spencer and Tuffy.
Before the internet during the 80's she painstakingly researched her family history by mail and microfilm thru the US Archives in DC. She collected a trunk of documents that she labeled for her family tracing her dad back to farms on Gettysburg, PA and the North, and farther back to the first German farmers settling far north during revolutionary times. She recently found her lineage in Ireland with her daughter and found the original clan on her mother's side.

She had traveled on business trips recently with her son and daughter to Amelia Island. She so loved to sit by the sea, she loved visiting Clearwater, Virginia Beach, NC beach, San Diego with her daughter but went reluctantly because home 591 Amherst was a place she was happiest and most content and her favorite place in the yard with her lilac bushes and flowers.
She loved traveling, staying at Hampton Beach with her son and daughter, staying by the sea , eating at her favorite haddock stops and listening to outdoor music at the old Hampton Beach Hatshell, especially on Fourth of July . In the fall she loved the festivals and the German music at Oktoberfest which delighted her and she never missed an Oompa band.
She was recently blessed and overjoyed that her son Mark chose to move in to help her in life and her daughter was in the process of moving home before retiring.

Going before her to Heaven was her husband, Maj. USAF (Ret) Francis X. Guenther, her son, Michael Andrew Guenther, 1997 sister, Margaret Saltzgever, her daughter-in-law, Diane (Eaton) Guenther.

Dorothy loved attending St Joseph Cathedral, and Living in her "eagles nest!" She is devoted to her family, and lived a charitable life, tirelessly helping her family, caring for children was her greatest joy, never complaining, never asking or wanting "for more", and giving of herself indefinitely, patiently listening and always forgiving immediately.

She especially demonstrated how to endure with courage and be thankful for what blessings you have. She taught us to always look at the positive, to move forward and not backward and spoke of seeing her son again someday. She was a trusting optimistic person who loved her family deeply and unconditionally.
Family members include her son, Mark Alan Guenther of Manchester; her daughter, Elaine Marie Guenther of Manchester; her grandchildren, Joseph Francis Guenther and fiancée Lauren Darrow of Atlanta, Melissa Ann (Guenther)Deveau, her husband, Denis Deveau and great-grandson, Avery Deveau, all of Hooksett, NH;

Friends may stop at Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory, 1799 Elm St., corner of North St, Manchester, at 9 am Friday, February 28th. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Friday, February 28th at 10 am in St. Joseph Cathedral Chapel, Lowell St, Manchester. Committal prayers and burial will follow in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Manchester.

Per Dorothy's wishes, donations may be made in her memory to the St. Joseph Cathedral Restoration Fund, a project very dear to her heart, 145 Lowell St, Manchester, NH 03104.