Dorothy Hecht 89, the beloved daughter of Bella and Dave Fisher, was born in Chicago on March 5th, 1917. Dorothy passed away on September 15th, 2006, at Kadlec Medical Center in Richland. During her childhood, she had tight bonds with good friends and family and was an “A” student in high school. Dorothy later worked as a secretary at the Marshall Fields headquarters. As a young adult she enjoyed going to the beach with friends, playing tennis and swimming.

After WWII, she met Irving Ozzie Hecht who became her prince until he passed away in 1996. Their encounter began at a dance in Chicago and fate brought them together again in Florida and California where he swept her off her feet. They married in Chicago 1947, moved to Beverly Hills and later West Los Angeles. They raised two children: Sam and Roberta. Dorothy’s family was very important to her, as were her friends. Dorothy and Ozzie opened their arms and home to relatives and friends, some of whom lived with them during hard times. They believed in family bonds.

They also believed in hard work. Together they built a successful catering business in Culver City, where Dorothy did much of the office bookwork.

As a couple, they loved to entertain and go out “on the town”. Dorothy enjoyed playing Mah Jong, swimming, reading, and spending time with her extended family. She was a member of the California Racket Club, Adat Shalom Synagogue and B’nai B’rith Sisterhood.

After they retired 1979, they spent time at the racket club, visited their children often and traveled. Their adventures were many, including a number of cruises, visiting Greece and Israel. As a team, they did volunteer work for the VA hospital and several other organizations.

In 1994 after Dorothy’s mother passed away, they moved to Leisure World in Laguna Hills, California, a retirement community where many of their old friends had moved. Here they enjoyed making new friends, many of the retirement activities, and going to the nearby Laguna Beach.

Several years after Ozzie passed away, Dorothy developed Alzheimer’s dementia disease and moved to Manteca, California where she lived in an independent living apartment for 1.5 years and then with her daughter Roberta for 6 months. As the Alzheimer’s progressed, she needed additional care and wound up moving near her son to live at the Guardian Angel Homes-Timbers assisted living in Richland, Washington. Here she spent the last three years of her life, in this caring family setting where she was also cared for by Tri-City Chaplaincy Hospice. Dorothy felt very much at home there and thought of the staff and some of the residents as family. Dorothy maintained her much of her individuality, including being loving, ornery and obstinate, right up to the end.

Dorothy is survived by her brother Sam Fisher of Blufftom, South Carolina; her son Sam and daughter-in-law Terri Hecht of West Richland, WA; daughter Roberta Rule of Manteca, CA; and a number a very special nephews and nieces.

Dorothy will be laid to rest next to Ozzie and near her parents and many other relatives at Hillside Memorial Park in Los Angeles on September 21.