Dorothy Lee McDonald Karilanovic's Obituary
Dorothy Lee McDonald Karilanovic, 89, passed away quietly on September 10, 2025 in Gainesville, Florida.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, Aleksandar Karilanovic, parents Lee and Dorothy Catherine Cain McDonald of Galveston’ maternal grandparents Harry Cain of Liverpool, England and Waco, Texas, and Alice Honea Cain of Paris and Waco Texas; paternal great-grandparents Theodore B. Lemoine and Addie M. Skinner Lemoine of Iowa; paternal grandparents of Michigan and Galveston Judge Dominic Doyle McDonald and Elva E. Lemoine of Iowa and Galveston; devoted cousin Charles B. Sanders, Jr. of Houston, Texas. She is survived by sisters Mary Doyle (“Molly” ) Ellison of Galveston, Kathryn Taubert of Gainesville, Florida, niece Amy L. Ellison and great nephew Angus James Heartsill; former nephew-in-law Judson and his wife Christine Heartsill and daughter Lydia, numerous cousins, many friends, and her devoted companion for the past year, Dr. Gordon Hubbell of Gainesville, Florida.
Dorothy was employed many years as a secretary in hospitals and medical universities in Galveston, Houston and New York City.
Born February 14, 1936 at Galveston’s St. Mary’s Hospital in the city’s ethnically diverse East End, she was the eldest of a fourth generation who lived her first two years at 926 Avenue G in an extended Victorian/Edwardian family of parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, until moving in 1938 with her parents to an adjacent high-raised bungalow.
Dorothy received her early education at Rosenberg School, Stephen F. Austin Junior High, graduating from Ball High School in 1954. After graduation, she attended Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas and The University of Houston. For Spanish studies, she attended The Academia Hispano-Americana, San Miguel de Allende Gto., Mexico, as well as the Alliance Francaise and Mannes College of Music in New York city.
Following her study in Mexico, she was hired in 1962 by Pan American World Airways, Latin American Division in New York City as a Flight Attendant until 1964, primarily on routes from New York City to the Caribbean. Following her 1965 marriage in New York to Aleksandar Karilanovic of Belgrade, Serbia (Yugoslavia) and NYC, she was employed 3 years at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, eventually becoming personal secretary for 9 years to the Chief of Pathology at the Cornel Medical Center-New York Hospital. After 18 years in New York City, Dorothy and her husband Alex returned to Galveston in 1980, after which she resumed employment as a medical secretary at The University of Texas Medical Branch. She retired from U.T.M.B’s Institute for the Medical Humanities in February 1998.
Having been an early student of classical piano, Dorothy took up chord study and improvisation in jazz piano in 1978 while in NYC. Returning to live in Galveston she became lab pianist in The Big Band Jazz Ensemble at College of the Mainland, Texas City, under the direction of Professor of Jazz Sparky Koerner. Continuing her studies of Jazz improvisation, she performed professionally as a soloist in dining and dancing venues such as The Wentle Trap Restaurant, The Artillery Club of Galveston, and in ensemble settings in area restaurants and hotels. In the 1980s she was an occasional performer of both classical and jazz music in The Galveston Chamber Music Society and Galveston Music Club. In the 1990s, was on the board of the annual Galveston Island Jazz Festival. From 2003 to 2007, she performed in her trio, “Mood Swing,” for local fundraising and private social events with veteran players Rudy Berlocher (bass) and Marvin Johnson, Sr. (percussion), professional Jazz vocalist and recording artist Kathryn Taubert of Florida (Dorothy’s sister) and others. From September, 2011 until March, 2021, Dorothy became the keyboard player in a Hispanic ensemble at the Iglesia Methodista Evangelica of Galveston’s Moody Memorial Church. From July 1994 to August 2016, as a charter member of Galveston’s historical research group, the“Lafitte Society,” Dorothy served as Secretary and translator of Spanish and French, retiring as Secretary Emerita in July, 2016.
Throughout her life in personal belief and practice, Dorothy endeavored to uphold the principles of the International Theosophical Society, a main tenant of which was to form a “universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, case, or color.” As a musician she stated, “I believe that American’s unique art form, the music of jazz, embodied this tenet as a spiritual symbol in sound of our country’s culture in its blend of musical influences of many lands, and as an expression of the struggles, joy and freedom of its people.” She wished to end her obituary with this from Proverbs 3:24, “When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid; yea, thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet.”
A memorial graveside service will be held Thursday, October 2, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. at the Serbian Orthodox Cemetery, 2804 61st St, Galveston, TX 77551.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Saints Constantine & Helen Serbian Orthodox Church, 4109 Avenue L, Galveston, TX 77550; The Galveston Island Humane Society, 6814 Broadway, Galveston, TX 77554; or Iglesia Methodista Evangelica of Galveston’s Moody Memorial Church, 2803 53rd St, Galveston, TX 77551.
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