From the age of 13, Dorothy Mary Porter worked: first at a community newspaper, and then packed chocolates in a candy factory in Chicago. At the outset of World War II at the age of 16, she worked in armatures at a defense plant. Why? To help pay for her private high school education at Immaculata High School, for her lessons in ballet, piano and trumpet, and to afford college at the College of St Teresa in Winona, Minn,.
Upon graduating with degrees in Foods and Nutrition, she worked in many hospitals and healthcare institutions in dietetics including: Cook County Hospital, Chicago’s Children’s Hospital, Saginaw General Hospital. Dorothy rose to Chief of Dietetic Services at the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute.
Dorothy moved to Billings in 1971 as a food service officer as a Reservist in the United State Air Force, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Afterward, she served eight Native American Reservations in Montana through the Public Health Service, Indian Health Services. In 1976, Dorothy married Howard Porter, the president of the Billings Business College. Dorothy loved to travel, visiting all seven continents in her life.
Dorothy came to know our Billings Catholic Schools through her good friend and neighbor, Sister Valerie. Sister Valerie invited Dorothy to happenings at the school and meeting the students. Because of her friendship with Sister Valeria, Dorothy place BACET within her will to provide for the schools in perpetuity.