Dorothy Ann Tiser, a former school guidance counselor and mental health worker, is remembered by friends for her intelligence, modesty and tireless work ethic.
Ms. Tiser died on Oct. 5 at Oxford Baptist Memorial Hospital after a long illness. She was 79.
Born on Oct. 30, 1942, Ms. Tiser was raised near Merigold, the only child of a cotton farmer. She graduated from Cleveland High School.
She attended Delta State University for her bachelor’s degree and earned a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from the University of Mississippi. For several years, she worked as the guidance counselor for Greenwood High School, impacting the lives of many students with her high level of engagement.
In 1974, Ms. Tiser was hired by Dr. Kinloch Gill Jr. to be one of his top assistants at the inaugural Life Help mental health center in Greenwood.
Madolyn Smith, a former Life Help executive director, met Ms. Tiser in 1975 when Smith was hired to join the clinical staff.
Smith described Ms. Tiser this way: “Never complained. Was very modest. Would easily let other people take credit for her work. She just didn’t care. She just wanted the job done.”
Smith said Ms. Tiser was Dr. Gill’s “right-hand person.”
“She wrote personnel policy,” Smith said. “She wrote the handbook from when we first got minimum standards from the state department. She translated that into a handbook. She and Kinloch made sure that we didn’t get any (citations). We were famous for not getting any citations. That was Kinloch’s wish, and Dorothy implemented it.”
Dorothy Robertson, who still works at Life Help, also met Ms. Tiser in 1975.
She was an extremely smart lady,” Robertson said. “We worked on many grants for Life Help. She loved to travel, and we talked about travel all of the time. Whenever I wanted to travel, I called her and she would Google it to be sure that I was going to a safe place and recommend whether I go there or not.”
Because both had the same first name, Robertson said she was known in the office as “D.R.” while Ms. Tiser was called “D.T.” Another thing they shared was that both of their mothers were pianists.
Robertson and Smith said Ms. Tiser was very intelligent and loved animals and nature. Ms. Tiser never married and had no children of her own, but Smith said Ms. Tiser made her friends her family and considered Smith’s children to be her own as well.
“I remember her as being very professional at all times,” Robertson said. “Sensitive. Loving and kind. Always thinking about how she could help someone else to better their lives.”
Graveside services for Tiser were held Sunday at North Cleveland Cemetery in Cleveland.
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
