Burlington Neighbor Dorothy McDaries Remembered for Resilience and Service

Dorothy Spicer McDaries, 82, quietly passed away at the end of 2025 after a series of long-term health challenges that included multiple cancers, end-stage renal failure, years of dialysis, and the loss of a leg. Born September 10, 1943, in a gypsy caravan in Portland, Oregon during World War II, she spent much of her childhood in Elon at the Elon Home for Children before marrying Edwin Frank McDaries Sr. and moving into the home she would make her own at 1932 Trail 5 in Burlington.

For 61 years the house at Trail 5 became known in the neighborhood for its abundant gardens and perennial vegetable beds, the product of McDaries’ celebrated green thumb. She worked first shift in local textile mills through the 1960s into the 1980s and later spent two decades cutting hams at Stadler Country Hams. In the mid-1970s she earned her GED at the Technical Institute of Alamance while raising two sons and working, a personal milestone she counted among her proudest achievements.

McDaries was a familiar presence at Alamance youth sports for more than two decades, attending little league, middle school, and high school games and helping anchor a network of local support for families involved in athletics. She also ran a small framing business out of a backyard shop and remained active in Bethlehem Christian Church in Elon.

Her final years underscored the intersecting health and social challenges many county residents face. Treatments that defeated cancer at least three times also contributed to long-term harms; she lived on permanent dialysis for 5.5 years and ultimately required amputation of her left leg after a hip fracture. She also battled Stage 3 non-small cell lung cancer. After the death of her husband more than two years earlier, McDaries chose to live with relatives Fred and Jane Pack for the last 22 months of her life, relying on informal family caregiving rather than institutional care.

McDaries is survived by her sons Mac and Ron; four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; and extended family who have been part of her Burlington life for decades. Her funeral visitation and service were held January 3, 2026, at Lowe Funeral Home, 2205 S. Church Street, Burlington, followed by graveside services at Bethlehem Christian Church, 3003 Altamahaw Racetrack Road, Elon. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the Burlington Fire Department Benefit Fund Association, 215 South Church Street, Burlington, NC 27215.

Her story reflects more than one life. It also raises questions for Alamance County about long-term care, access to dialysis and rehabilitation, support for family caregivers, and the lasting impact of economic shifts that closed textile mills and reshaped local employment. Neighbors remember McDaries for her grit, hospitality, and the small everyday labors that stitched community life together.