Dorothy Brooks Dunlap, a retired community and children's theater director, died June 7 of complications from old age at an assisted-living center in Anne Arundel County. She was 85 and lived in the Chartwell neighborhood of Severna Park.
Born Dorothy Brooks in Cambridge, she was a 1942 Cambridge High School graduate. In 1944, she married a Naval Academy graduate, Roger Hugh Mullins.
"She enjoyed the life of an officer's wife and being the mother of two children," said her daughter, Eileen Mullins Haley of Brookeville.
In 1960, her husband, a Navy pilot, was killed in an aircraft crash while serving in Vietnam. She and her children were living in Auburn, Ala., where they had last been stationed.
"She took the opportunity to resume her education and received a Bachelor of Arts in speech and drama from Auburn University," her daughter said. "She fit in with the students very well. She was outgoing, personable. Auburn is a small university town, and she already knew many of the professors."
She was the recipient of the Gold Mask Award from the Auburn Players and was recruited to begin the Gamma Omega Chapter of the women's fraternity Kappa Alpha Theta.
In 1965, she returned to Maryland and lived in Anne Arundel County until her death. In 1966, she married William C. Winblad, a Washington business executive. After his death in 1976, she married Marine Col. John F. Dunlap.
"She was a lifelong student of the theater and tireless supporter of the arts. She performed on stage and TV, directed performances at Auburn University, the Naval Academy and the Children's Theatre of Annapolis," her daughter said.
"She was enchanted by children," her daughter added. "She was good at developing them as actors and in developing a stage presence in them."
Mrs. Dunlap was also an awards judge for Colonial Players in Annapolis and stagecraft workshop director for St. Mary's High School in Annapolis. She taught drama workshop courses at Friends School in Baltimore and was a technical director and speech instructor for Anne Arundel Community College in the 1970s.
Mrs. Dunlap remained active in theater, continued her world travel, belonged to several women's organizations and was a member of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church. She also became the volunteer associate coordinator for the AARP's Tax Counseling for the Elderly program.
For nearly 20 years, she ran the program, which attracted volunteers trained by the Internal Revenue Service and state income tax officials.
In a 1994 Annapolis Capital article, she described her co-workers: "They're well-educated. Some come back every year to help. They can do very simple to very complicated returns."
Mrs. Dunlap was a member of the American Association of University Women, the American Educational Theatre Association, the Annapolis Fine Arts Festival Association, the Mid-Atlantic Children's Theatre Conference, the International Platform Association, the Anne Arundel Arts Association and the Severna Park Alumnae Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta.
A Mass of Christian burial was offered Monday.
In addition to her daughter, survivors include a son, Stephen G. Mullins of Pasadena; a stepdaughter, Kathryn Dunlap Hodson of Columbus, Mo.; a stepson, Timothy M. Dunlap of Auburn; and three grandchildren. Her third husband, Colonel Dunlap, died in 2007.