Dorothy Ruth Sperling, 58, passed away Jan. 31, 2006 at Ft. Walton Beach, FL. She was born July 12, 1947 in Rochester, NY to David and Ellen Barrus Littlefield.
Sperling had been a resident of Freeport for the past eight years. She was Baptist by faith. She was a veteran of the United States Air Force and the United States Air Force Reserves serving her country as a master sergeant. She was a boom operator on a KC 135. She was one of the first women to attend the boom operators school in the United States Air Force. She also received her masters degree in industrial safety from the University of Southern California. She was also a certified safety professional and she attended two years of law school in southern California. She worked as a clerk at the Miramar Beach and Destin Post Office. She also worked on the space shuttle program at Lockheed Martin Aerospace. She worked on the B-1 bomber program aircraft at Northrup in southern California. She was a super grandmother to 22 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Sperling was predeceased in death by her mother, and step-daughter, Billie Jo Patterson.
Sperling is survived by her father, David Littlefield, of Rochester, NY; her husband of 17 years, Mike Sperling, of Freeport; three step-sons, (SMS) Bobby Ray Sperling, of Elmendorf Air Force Base, AK., Master Sergeant Jackie L. Sperling, of Ft. Benning, GA, and Michael Sperling, of Adamsville, TN; two step-daughters, Terrie Lee Jones, of Ray City, GA, and Shannon Cupples, of Bethel Springs, TN; two sisters, Kathy Polay, of Liverpool, NY, and Barbara Palifrone, of Rochester, NY. She is also survived by 22 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were conducted Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006 at Clary-Glenn Freeport Chapel Funeral Home, with Rev. Joel Glenn officiating and military honors.
Burial followed in the Barrancas National Cemetery.
[Source: The DeFuniak Springs Herald, February 9, 2006]
[Burial: Barrancas National Cemetery, Pensacola]