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Dottie Culp’s  life celebrated at memorial

She was behind construction of Carillon Park cafe.

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By Amelia Robinson, Staff Writer 10:06 PM Monday, November 7, 2011

It was as if Dorothy “Dottie” Culp planned her final day perfectly.

The 96-year-old had her hair styled and enjoyed lunch Thursday at Carillon Historical Park’s Culp Cafe, a restaurant dedicated to her late-husband Merritt Culp.

She saw the park’s new Heritage Center of Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship for the first time and took a spin on its Dayton Carousel of Innovation.

Brady Kress, president and CEO of Dayton History — the nonprofit organization that operates Carillon Park — said the always-friendly Dayton resident took a spot on the merry-go-round’s hand-carved NCR cash register.

She had dinner with her family and later died in her sleep on Friday, Kress said, relying a story told at Culp’s memorial service Monday at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

He called the service a celebration. “Here’s someone who gave back to the community and was almost able to plan what she wanted to do her last day on Earth,” Kress said. “She was a mother and a grandmother. She was very unassuming and very gracious and always smiling.”

A graduate of South High School in Youngstown, Culp earned a bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg University. She taught English at Dayton’s Fairview High School before retiring.

Kress said Culp and her children, Jack Culp and Jan Lynn Abbott, donated more than a half million dollars to the park for the construction of Culp’s Cafe. An endowment was also established to support it.

Some of the recipes Culp’s mother-in-laws perfected are serviced at the Carillon Park restaurant.

“(The restaurant) is the one thing that put us in the category of a full-service museum,” he said. It lead to the park being open year-round beginning in 2005, Kress said.

Culp, a Dayton Daily News “Ten Top Women of Dayton” in 1969, frequently visited the park.

She had her own special table there for Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra’s Dayton Heritage Festival performances.

Culp began attending philharmonic concerts in the 1940s and was a significant donor to its Protect & Secure Sustainability Campaign.

“Mrs. Culp was a devoted music lover and dedicated supporter of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra,” DPO president Paul Helfrich said. “She continued to attend concerts even in the final months of her long life.”

Donations in Culp’s memory may be made to the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, 109 N. Main St., Suite 200, Dayton, OH 45402; Dayton History, 1000 Carillon Blvd., Dayton, OH 45409 or other charities.

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