White Funeral Home
400 First Street West
Independence, Iowa 50644

Independence – Dorothy Brooks Burkhart of Independence, Iowa, and Naples, Florida, died on Wednesday morning, September 2, 2015, at Prairie Hills Assisted Living in Independence.  She was born on April 5, 1916, in Waverly, Iowa, the daughter of Floyd Proctor Brooks and Helen Terry Brooks.  She attended West Waterloo and Jesup High Schools and the University of Iowa. She married Dwight A. Burkhart in 1936.  He preceded her in death in 1996.  She was an active long time member of the First Presbyterian Church in Independence and an affiliate member of the First Presbyterian Church of Naples.  She volunteered as a church school teacher, superintendent and chairman of Christian Education, a Brownie and Cub Scout leader, a mental health nursery school teacher in Naples, and a Hospice of Naples worker.  Hospice of Buchanan County began with a dream of Dorothy’s, who lost her daughter, Lynn, to breast cancer in 1978.  Hospice of Buchanan County was later established in 1982.

She is survived by her son, Brooks Burkhart and his wife, Hildegard, five grandchildren, Brooke Deines, Katie Deines, Brooks C. (Jennifer) Burkhart, Dr. Lauren (Scott) Dwinell,

Tracy Hyder, and seven great grandchildren, Charles Hyder, Geoffrey Hyder, Benjamin Dwinell, Lily Dwinell, Christian Burkhart, Maya Burkhart, and Aidynn Burkhart.

Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8, 2015, at the First Presbyterian Church in Independence with Rev. John Hougen officiating.  Burial will be in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Independence.  Friends may call for visitation from 5 p.m.until 7 p.m. on Monday, September 7^th, at the White Funeral Home in Independence where a P.E.O. service begins at 6:30 p.m.