Dorothy E. Deethardt, age 95, of Aurora, died Sunday, January 31, 2010, at the Brookings Hospital in Brookings, South Dakota. Memorial services will be 2:00 P.M. Wednesday, February 10, 2010, at the United Methodist Church in Aurora. Interment at Greenwood Cemetery will take place at a later date. Visitations will be from 5-7 P.M. Tuesday, February 9, 2010, at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. Memorials may be directed to the SDSU Foundation or the United Methodist Church in Aurora.

Dorothy Ella (Pike) Deethardt was born May 29, 1914, near Brookings, to Willis Lloyd and Grace Mae (Van Cleve) Pike. She grew up in the Aurora area, and graduated from Aurora High School in 1932. She received a bachelors degree from SDSU in home economics in 1937, and then worked as a home economist for a year. On September 7, 1939, she married Harold Deethardt at Aurora, and they farmed for many years. Harold died September 29, 1996. Dorothy received her masters degree in nutrition and food science from SDSU in 1966. She was employed as a food scientist at SDSU for 25 years.

Dorothy was a member of the United Methodist Church in Aurora, the Daughters of the American Revolution, Business and Professional Women, Sigma Xi, and she served as president of the Brookings Area Retired Teachers Association. She published a cookbook entitled Dorothys Kitchen, and wrote over 50 publications related to food research, some of which she presented overseas. She was listed in Whos Who in Midwest America. She enjoyed baking, cooking, sewing, crocheting, quilting, and collecting antiques.

Survivors include her three children: Virgil Deethardt of Lincoln, Nebraska, Ronald Deethardt of DeSmet, South Dakota, and Shirley Deethardt of Lincoln; two grandsons: Willis Deethardt of Nemo, South Dakota, and Toby Deethardt of Aurora, South Dakota. She was preceded in death by her parents and husband.