Meet Dottie Webster.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
A: I grew up in Texas and attended twelve schools in twelve years. My dad sold oil well equipment; unfortunately, it was not our oil. Right now, I balance my life volunteering for SIFF (Sedona International Film Festival). I’m on the Board for six years and actually worked for SIFF since it began. I’ve loved movies my whole life. I once said that if we do a festival in Sedona, I will work on it. We didn’t even live here when they had the first one, but we happen to be here that weekend, and I volunteered. I didn’t know anybody, but it was fun. I was also on the founding Board of the Sedona Women. That was an intense three years setting up the 501(3) C, created our bylaws, and initiated programs. All the women on that Board are still my friends. I love the Chamber Music, and I support the Verde Valley Sanctuary; I love to travel, and I love photography.
Q: Is there one thing that you wished you learned earlier in life?
A: I wish there were classes in high school about relationships and how to plan your life in the future. That would have been very helpful.
Q: How long have you lived or worked in Sedona?
A: I’ve been here since 1995 when we started to build our house. I was here full time, and we had a place at the Cottages at Coffeepot. We bought a cottage in 1986. So, we’ve been coming to Sedona since 1981 – almost 40 years.
Q: What do you like most about Sedona?
A: Like everybody else, I fell in love with the beauty first. I said to my husband, the first time we visited, “I’m going to live here.” He looked at me and said, “I’m going to be with you!” I replied, “I hope so!” I also love the dry air of Arizona, and I love the scenery. When I came here, I felt like I’ve been here before. I always wondered about this connection to Sedona. Then I started laughing because I remembered that my grandfather would give me a quarter every Saturday, and I would go to the movie theater. I remember seeing Sedona in the movies. That’s why it was there in my memory, and I thought it was a past life experience. But it was just an earlier life, ha-ha.
Q: What is one piece of advice that changed your life?
A: Marjorie Miller was probably one of the wisest women that I have ever known; it makes me cry thinking about her because she was like my friend, my sister, and my mother. She said many things that stuck with me such as, ‘live your life”, “be in the moment,” and “don’t wait.’
Q: Who is the most exciting person you’ve met here in Sedona?
A: It’s Marjorie Miller and a woman that I met in Elkhart, Indiana, who was a very aristocratic woman in Budapest, Madam Kaldori. She was like a mom to me, and she lived in a little tiny frame-house; I just adored her, and we were friends for about 15 years before she died at age 95.
Q: What age would you be again, and why?
A: I am happy at every age I have ever been, but I’m still 35 in my mind, ha-ha.
Q: How would your closest friends describe you?
A: Loyal, little crazy, serious.
Q: What would you consider your greatest accomplishment?
A: Probably doing things I never thought I could do because I don’t have a college degree. I’ve always felt that life is our education or our school. Becoming a pilot was something that was completely out of the norm for me. My husband was a pilot, and we were flying with our children in planes a lot. When we found out that a friend of his was taking flying classes and died of a heart attack during the flying lesson, I had this awakening. I started taking lessons, and I didn’t tell him. I needed to know what to do in an emergency situation. He was more proud of me for doing that than having our kids, ha-ha. He was just so passionate about flying. For me, it was just a survival thing, but it became enjoyable taking the kids out.
Also, publishing a book – I never thought I could do that. I was the Chair of Marketing of our junior league cookbook, and I realized that I couldn’t find the recipes in all of these books that I had, so I created ‘A Recipe Reminder.’ Before moving to Sedona, I got to know Pamela Morris, and she said that we needed to write a book about Sedona. Two years later, we published a book, ‘A Window on Sedona.’ That was 20 years ago.
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Sedona?
A: I love waking up to this Red Rocks in the morning. I am grateful to God that I live here because I’ve lived in six or seven different states, and I would never choose another place to live in my life. I love the diversity. I love that you can be independent, quiet, or very active.
Q: How would you like to be remembered for?
A: Kind because that’s what I’ve always been labeled. Also, I’ve lived my life to the fullest.
From the interview with Jonelle Klein
