Dorothy Bissell, 87

Beloved Palisadian Dorothy Louise Bissell passed on August 29 in the comfort of her longtime home, with her three children and loving caretaker, Olivia, by her side. She was 87. Dorothy was the cherished wife of Herb Bissell for over 60 years, and together they were one of the first families along Via De La Paz 59 years ago. Early in life, Bissell was accustomed to being active in her community, following her parents’ example of supporting social and environmental causes. Born on January 20, 1920, she grew up in the West Adams district and graduated from Hamilton High School. She studied business at Metropolitan City Business School, and worked at Hughes Aircraft in the accounting department until her first child, Patty, was born in 1945. She and Herb moved to Pacific Palisades in 1948 to raise their family, which eventually included two more children, Paul and Peggy. As a full-time mom, Dorothy stayed connected to the community, teaching Sunday school and preschool at the Methodist Church and coordinating the high school youth program for a year. She was a Bluebird and Campfire girl leader, and a leader in the Methodist Youth Fellowship. She was a huge proponent of the ‘No Oil’ campaign and served diligently in trying to keep offshore drilling from the local coastline. She manned the voting booths for many years as a volunteer at Palisades Elementary School, and served six years on the board of the Pacific Palisades Residents Association. In 1974, Dorothy was one of four women who founded the ongoing Palisades Beautiful, a nonprofit tree-planting organization made up of extraordinary women who encouraged residents to plant parkway trees throughout the community. In 1999, when she was honored by the Community Council with a Community Service Award, Dorothy proudly stated, ‘It feels as if I have spent most of my 79 years putting in endless volunteer hours.’ She continued, ‘I share this award with the Palisades Beautiful Committee. I’ve always felt the Palisades was an especially wonderful community because of the people, who work so hard to keep our town such a nice place to live.’ Dorothy was predeceased by her husband, Herb, in 2002. She leaves her three children, Patricia Smith (husband Buz), Paul Bissell (wife Cynthy) and Peggie Davis (husband John, deceased); grandchildren Peggi and Larry Stoffel, Claire and Jeff Randall, Andrew Davis, Mathieu and Kristin Bissell, and Michael and Jessica Bissell; and great-grandchildren, Mark, Katie, Rose and Logan. At Dorothy’s request, no services are to be held. Contributions may be made either to The American Parkinson Disease Association, 135 Parkinson’s disease, Staten Island, New York, 10305, or Heal the Bay, 1444 Ninth St., Santa Monica, CA. Dorothy wanted to be remembered as being very blessed by love, family and friends, and most significantly, as being able to live and give back to such a wonderful caring community as Pacific Palisades.