Opal Faye (Robertson) Dorman

Opal Faye (Robertson) Dorman, age 104, of Groves, Texas, passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, on Saturday, January 27, 2018.  Funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM, on Saturday, February 3, 2018, at Dorman Funeral Home;  Reverend Ray Meador of Memorial Baptist Church, in Port Arthur, Texas, officiating.  Rite of Committal and Interment will immediately follow the funeral service at Autumn Oaks Memorial Park, in Orange, Texas.  Visitation of family and friends will be held prior from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM, on Saturday, February 3, 2018, at Dorman Funeral Home.

Opal was born on Saturday, May 10, 1913, in Sulphur, Louisiana, to parents Faye Victorine (LeBrun) and Charlie Hardy Robertson.  As a young girl, Opal accepted Christ as her lord and savior, and remained a devout Christian woman for the remainder of her life.   In 1931, Opal graduated from high school and shortly after moved from Sulphur, Louisiana, to Orange, Texas, to live with family in the hopes of finding work.  Opal went to work at Gulf Oil Refinery, in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1933, where it was her job to put the bottoms on oil cans.  At work, Opal worked with a gentleman whose job it was to put the tops on the oil cans.  Opal asked the gentleman, who had a car, if he would drive her, and her friends, to the park for a company picnic, which he did, but only after she agreed to sit next to him in the front seat.  September 8, 1934, Opal and the young gentleman, with the car, Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Dorman, Sr., were married.  Together, Opal and Woody stayed in Port Arthur, Texas, where Opal worked hard to maintain her home, and raise their beautiful children.  Opal was a kind and loving woman who not only took care of her own children, but also the neighborhood children, whom she would load up into her 1936 Buick, which only had coil springs for back seats, and bring them all to school.  While things were hard for Opal growing up, she knew that she would work to do everything she could to make life for her children better.  She was a truly selfless woman who never stopped wanting what was best for her children and said her happiest days were those she spent as a mother. 

In her spare time, Opal spent many evenings, around the card table with her husband and friends, playing a grueling game of Dominos or an exciting game of High 5.  She was known to have a beautiful voice and was also an exceptional yodeler.  Wuthering Heights was her favorite movie and even after seeing the movie hundreds of times, she still became emotional at the end.  Opal was a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother, who will be missed by all who knew her.

Preceding Opal in death is her husband of 69 years, Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Dorman, Sr.; daughter, Vicky Elizabeth Dorman; parents, Charlie and Faye Robertson; sister, Litha Jane Fox; and brother, Robert Robertson.

Those who will cherish her memory most are her children, Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Dorman, Jr. and his wife, Margaret, of Orange, Texas, and Geraldine “Jerry” Huebel and her husband, Jim, of Groves, Texas; grandchildren, Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Dorman, III and his wife, Bonnie, of Orange, Texas, James “Jimbo” Huebel and his wife, Helen, of Groves, Texas, Ron Dorman of Wichita, Kansas, Cliff Huebel and his wife, Ashley, of Lumberton, Texas, Susan Palfreyman and her husband, Joel, of Missouri City, Texas, and Cindy Smathers and her husband, Robert of Katy, Texas; great-grandchildren, Lauren Dell and her husband, Charles, Haley Jankowski and her husband, Daniel, Brittney Dorman Johnson and her husband, Patrick, Andrew Dorman, Micah Dorman and her fiancé, Geoff, Alex Dorman and his wife, Jade, Jason Palfreyman and his wife, Alexis, Mitchell Huebel, Molly Smathers, Maddie Smathers, Emily Payne and her husband, Josh, and Lauren, Desormeaux; and great-great-grandchildren, Jason, Journee, and one on the way, who will be arriving in May.

Honoring Opal as pallbearers are Woodrow Dorman, III, Jimbo Huebel, Ron Dorman, Cliff Huebel, Alex Dorman, Jason Palfreyman, and Mitchell Huebel.

The family would like to extend their thanks to Southeast Texas Hospice and Connie, Lena, and Ida, for their kindness and the wonderful care they provided, to Opal.

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