Dorothy "Dotty" Kate (Williams) Flood, 95, passed away peacefully on September 1, 2023 at the Ghent Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Ghent, New York with family at her bedside. The oldest child of the late Jennie (May Schilling) Williams and David Thomas Williams, she was born November 2, 1927 at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson, New York.

Dotty grew up with four siblings in Chatham on Church Street and Jones Avenue. During her years at Chatham High School she was an excellent student, class treasurer, a member of the yearbook committee and choir, a cheerleader, and a majorette with the marching band and was also Chatham's contestant in the Columbia County Fair Queen Contest.  She graduated third in her class with a Regents Business Degree in 1945. She loved to write. She sometimes wrote whimsically of her childhood years in Chatham and occasionally published those stories in newspapers including her favorite; The Chatham Press. Dotty is predeceased by her parents as well as her brother Bruce of California and Chatham, sisters Janet Bryant of California and Esther Baker of Chatham Center. She is also predeceased by her husband Patrick (Harry) Flood, and is survived by sister Joyce Sirani of Austerlitz.

On July 19, 1947 Dotty married Patrick (Harry) Henry Flood, Jr. of High Bridge Road in Chatham and they began a family on Merrylawn Farm on nearby White Mills Road in Chatham. The farm was gifted to Harry by his dad when he returned from his service in the Pacific Theatre in World War 2. They remained married for 66 years until Harry passed away in 2013. Except for short periods of residency in Putnam Valley, New York (1960) and Mannsville, New York (1962) they lived at their farm on White Mills Road in Chatham where they raised five children; Eileen Carol Allard of Ghent, Larry Patrick Flood of Port Charlotte, Florida, Patrick Stephen Flood of Saco, Maine, David Wayne Flood of Chatham, and Gayle Ellen Podell of Valatie. Dotty began a dog breeding business in the mid-1960's. During the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's she ran Merrylawn Kennels where she was well-known as a dog breeder of champion Great Danes and Deerhounds while husband Harry worked throughout the northeast as a welder and also raised cattle in the beautiful hayfields and pastures at Merrylawn. In 2008 she wrote of her life on the farm in her first book "Merrylawn" and wrote a second book in 2022 about the raising of dogs "Danes, Deerhounds, and Dotty".  In addition to being an author, a dog training instructor, and dog breeder, Dotty was also an artist with oils and acrylics, a very good distance runner and skier, and enjoyed making ceramic items. She was a very independent thinker and a prolific reader. She and her husband enjoyed traveling within the US, sharing many adventures in the south and southwest as well as New England. For most of her later years she lived at her farm alone with sons Larry and David as her next door neighbors;  with daughters Gayle and Eileen living in nearby towns. She is survived by her sister Joyce, her five children, 9 grandchildren, and 20 great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the Wenk Funeral Home, 21 Payn Avenue in Chatham 2:00pm Tuesday, September 5th and her ashes will then be placed in the ground with her husband's at the Chatham Center Cemetery. Her family wishes to thank the many caregivers who helped Dotty in her home during 2021 and 2022 and at the Ghent Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in the final years of her rich life. For on-line condolences, visit wenkfuneralhome.com