Dorothy M. Scholten

Dorothy Scholten, a beloved San Francisco educator, World War II veteran, and a woman of exceptional grace and warmth, died at 96 of the afflictions of age on June 12 in Daly City. She was born Dorothy Marie McCarthy in 1924 in San Francisco. She and her younger sister Irene were raised in the city’s Richmond district by their mother, Rose McCarthy, a survivor of the 1906 earthquake and fire. Dorothy graduated from Star of the Sea Academy in 1941.

With the entry of the U.S. into the war later that year, new careers opened to women. Dorothy found work in the Financial District, delivering telegrams, operating a teletype machine for the Postal Telegraph Co., and as a clerk for Acme Fast Freight.

In 1944, Dorothy joined the U.S. Naval Reserve, better known as the WAVES. Completing basic training in New York, she was disappointed to be assigned to her home town, commenting: “I didn’t join the WAVES to see San Francisco.” After a year, the Navy granted her wish “to see the world,” and posted her for a year in Hawaii, then for a year at naval bases in New York.

Following her discharge in 1947, she studied at San Francisco State College, earning in 1951 a degree in Business and a teaching credential, then completing in 1957 a Masters in Business Education. While at SF State, she met and fell in love with Robert Scholten, another aspiring teacher. Dorothy and Bob were married in 1953 at Star of the Sea Catholic Church. They would share a loving marriage for 64 years. In 1951, Dorothy was hired as a professor at San Francisco’s Cogswell Polytechnical College (now relocated in San Jose). The small college had just 50 students, all male, the year Dorothy began teaching. She was the engineering college’s only woman professor for many years.

In her 31 years at Cogswell, Dorothy taught every non-engineering subject in the catalogue, including History, English, Philosophy, and Employment Skills. As the school grew, she was made Chairman of General Studies. When Cogswell accepted its first female student in the early 1970s, Dorothy also became Dean of Women. The students joked that her title should more accurately be Dean of Woman.

Accessible, engaging, and thoroughly in command of her subject matter, Professor Scholten insisted on her students’ best work. She also required it be delivered on time: “The only excuse I’ll accept for failure to get it in on time is a death in your family—I mean yours.” She was beloved by her students, who kept in contact with her for years. In 2005, former students chipped in to send Dorothy and Bob on a two-week Hawaiian vacation.

Following her retirement, Dorothy volunteered for several years with the Rose Resnick Center (LightHouse for the Blind) and Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. She and Bob took many trips throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. She was active in the S.F. Quilter’s Guild as well as a weekly sewing group. She organized several reunions of the Star of the Sea Class of 1941.

Dorothy had a singular gift for friendship: you could seat her next to anyone, young or old, and she would come away with a new friend. She never missed an opportunity to remember a birthday or send congratulations on an accomplishment. She was a mentor and confidant to her many nieces and nephews, who felt blessed by her love and generosity. In 2012, Bob and Dorothy moved from San Francisco to the Peninsula del Rey senior living community in Daly City. She and Bob were active in the community there. She will be greatly missed by her family, former students, friends, and the many people whose lives she influenced. Dorothy was predeceased by her husband Bob. She is survived by her sister Irene Unsinn (Vince), sister in-law Helen Scholten (James), and many nieces and nephews. A funeral mass and memorial celebration will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Dorothy Scholten may be made to St. Anthony’s Foundation, 150 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, CA 94102