Dottie Cherry Nation

It is with heavy hearts but knowledge that she is in a better place that we share the passing of Dottie Nation, a resident of the Lake Tanglewood community of Amarillo, Texas. She passed away May 19, 2025, at The Ware at Park Central in Amarillo after complications from a fall. She had just turned 90 years old.

Dottie was born in 1935 in San Angelo, Texas, to Hunter and Elsie Cherry. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with a major in Sociology, and later studied Psychology and Finance. At SMU she was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. In 1956, she married Bill Francis, a Captain in the Air Force who was stationed at Goodfellow Air Base in San Angelo. After the Air Force, Bill completed the requirements to become a CPA, and they began a family. Debbie was born in 1958 and Mark in 1960.

In 1961, the family moved to Amarillo where Bill became a partner in the CPA firm of Doshier, Pickens and Francis. In 1977, Bill and Dottie divorced, and Dottie began her career as a “numbers person,” a skill she inherited from her CPA dad along with his high ethical standards for financial matters. At first, she was a bookkeeper for a furniture company, then she completed the Series 7 licensing requirements to become a stockbroker. She became the first woman in Amarillo to be a registered stockbroker, and later she became a Personal Financial Planner. A devoted member of the Junior league of Amarillo from early in her adulthood to an active provisional member later in life, she served as the president from 1975-1976. She served as a judge in the Lake Tanglewood community and was heavily involved with the local library.

Dottie had a lively interest in sports and competitions of many kinds, both as a spectator and as a participant. From early fly-fishing excursions with her dad and kid sister on vacations to the Conejos River in southern Colorado, to becoming a very good bowler, excellent tennis player, then golfer – in succession – not so much all at once.

Along the way, she met Jimmy Nation, and they married in 1984. She and Jimmy loved wagering on sports, especially football and horses, and enjoyed junkets with dear friends to casinos in Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and Laughlin, NV. They also invested in racehorses, at one time owning New Mexico’s Filly of the Year. Dottie’s numbers sense and research skills came in handy in figuring the odds . She was an accomplished bridge player, including the demanding duplicate bridge, from college right up to her recent hospitalization, playing twice a week. – again, the numbers ability of being able to keep track in her head of what cards had been played. Until her recent illness, she was an avid Soduko puzzle worker enjoying national recognition for continuous correct entries. She also enjoyed solving the daily New York Times crossword puzzle with her daughter evenings over the phone.

From her mom she inherited an interest in people, how they think, what makes them “tick.” This skill made her pay kind attention to other people, regardless of their background or status: from the person sacking her groceries to the affluent client. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at her house were often attended by friends who didn’t have family near-by. She was a dedicated member of Lake Tanglewood Church and thought of friends and neighbors as extended family.

Dottie is survived by her daughter, Debbie Weems, son-in-law, Ian Weems of Amarillo, Texas; her son, Mark Francis and his wife, Lynn Francis of Chicago, Illinois, their four children, Catherine, Hunter, Aaron, and Olivia; her stepson Jim Luthi and his wife, Laura of Portland Oregon and their three children, Brock, Mia, and Connor. She has 5 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister, Edie Cherry and her husband, Jim See of Albuquerque, NM, and many Texas cousins who enjoyed “zooming” with her every other Sunday evening.

A memorial service will be held at Lake Tanglewood Community Church, 106 Tanglewood Drive, at 3:30 on Friday, June 20, 2025. A reception will follow in the Church Reception Hall.  Dottie loved all animals, especially dogs, and so the family requests that donations be made to the animal rescue or shelter of your choice in lieu of flowers.