By Barbara Simmons | STC Fellow
A Fellow of STC, Robert Frank Award recipient in 1978, and STC member throughout her professional career, Dorothy Saxner died 8 October 2017. Dorothy was one of the founding members of the STC Chicago Chapter. She was a great leader, both of the Chicago Chapter and of STC as a whole.
Dorothy received Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in microbiology from the University of Chicago. She held research positions at the university, and was a teaching assistant in English composition at George Williams College; editor of the Journal of Infectious Diseases (University of Chicago Press); head of the technical editing unit in the chemistry and life sciences division at IIT Research Institute (IITRI); and retired as Vice President–Books and Corporate Secretary for American Hospital Publishing, Inc., in 1989.
Dorothy was instrumental in building the Chicago Chapter. In 1957, she joined the Society of Technical Writers and Editors. In 1960, STWE merged with the Technical Publishing Society (TWE) to become the Society of Technical Writers Publishers (STWP), which would change its name to the Society for Technical Communication in 1971. At the local level, Dorothy served the Chicago Chapter as Program Chairman, Secretary, and Vice Chairman. She was Chairman of the Chapter in 1962–1963, and Chair of the Nominating Committee in 1964–1965 and 1971–1972.
At the national level, she was Chairman of the Nominating Committee in 1965–1966; Vice Chairman of the Program Committee for the 1966 International Technical Communication Conference in Fort Worth, TX; Chairman of the Printing Coordinating Committee for the 1967 Chicago ITCC; member of the Standards Council; Director-at-Large, 1968–1970; and Assistant to the President, 1974–1975.
Dorothy is survived by her husband, Harold Johnson, of Ann Arbor, MI; her children Bobbie (Hank) Scheff and Amy (Allen) Oseroff; stepchildren Howard Saxner (Elizabeth Peters), Robert Johnson, Karen (Stuart) Downing, and Alan Johnson (Joe Dematio). She is also remembered by her grandchildren, Julian Scheff (Dana Simpson), Jack Scheff, Andy Scheff, Daniel Oseroff, Thomas Oseroff, David Saxner, and Ryan Downing.
