Dorothy Durrell Laupa, a Pacific Palisades resident for 49 years, died on March 26 after a lengthy illness. She was 88 years old. Born February 11, 1920 in Ames, Iowa, Dorothy was raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, and attended Colorado State University, where she was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She received her M.A. degree in fine arts at UC Berkeley and then taught textiles at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where she met her future husband, Armas Laupa. They married in August 1953 in Urbana, and moved to the Palisades in 1959, where they raised their three children. Dorothy was a board member of the Friends of the Pacific Palisades Library and volunteered at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the UCLA Natural History Museum. She also was active in the Kappa Alpha Theta’s Los Angeles alumnae chapter. Dorothy was kinder than most people who were as smart as she was. She found humor, as well as fascination, in all kinds of things…and she found time to be an expert on some of them, like fabrics and products made of grasses from all over the world. People were important to Dorothy. She loved her family and had many friends, all of whom will miss her very much. In addition to her husband of 53 years, Armas Laupa, Dorothy is survived by her son Thomas (wife Cindy) of Fort Collins; her daughter, Dr. Marta Laupa of Providence, Rhode Island; and her daughter, Dr. Marya Laupa-Scott (husband John) of Houston, Texas; her sister Mary Kaiser (husband Dale) of Stanford; and six grandchildren, Gavin and Ian Laupa and Emily, Olivia, John and Michael Scott. No services will be held. Memorial donations in Dorothy’s honor may be made to one’s favorite charity.
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