Dorrit Elizabeth “Dorrey” (Dale) Grina passed away peacefully of natural causes at Our Lady of Peace in Charlottesville, Va., on Sept. 10, 2020, nine days following her 100th birthday. She was born in Chicago, raised in Decorah, Iowa, and was a graduate of Luther College. She also studied nursing at Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, graduating as a Registered Nurse.

Her father Herman Dale (Luther Class of 1913) was the son of Norwegian immigrants. Her mother Helene Irgens emigrated from Stavanger to Decorah in 1917. Dorrit loved both tennis and the piano, performing publicly on occasion as a young teenager. She accompanied her mother on several summer trips to Norway, becoming fluent in the Norwegian language. Sadly, she lost her mother to cancer when she was 16.

In 1947, she married Lawrence F. Grina ‘42 of Barnesville, Minn. Their four children were born between 1949 and 1957. Her professional career as a Registered Nurse spanned 40 years growing in responsibility from private duty nursing to Charge Nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital in Fargo, N.D., and Memorial Hospital in Cumberland, Md.; she taught Med-Surgical Nursing at Memorial Hospital in Cumberland and Community Hospital in Roanoke. In 1973 she joined the Roanoke City Health Department as a Public Health Nurse and a team leader in the Swine Flu Immunization Program. At her retirement in 1982 she was serving as Acting Public Health Nursing Coordinator for the City of Roanoke.

During their 37 years living in Salem, Va., Lawrence and Dorrey were active in the Bla Fjell Lodge of the Sons of Norway and with close friends hosted many Norwegian themed dinners. They enjoyed sailing on Smith Mountain Lake and were members of College Lutheran Church. In Charlottesville she attended St. Mark's Lutheran Church.

In 2005, they moved from Salem to Our Lady of Peace Assisted Living in Charlottesville, Va. Lawrence passed away in 2008. In 2009, she made her last trip to Norway, spending a month with her extended family.

Dorrit is survived by her four children, Eric of Mansfield, Mass., Karen of Kensington, Md., Christine of Barboursville, Va., and Peter of Washington, D.C., together with eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Interment of ashes was at College Lutheran Church in Salem during a private committal service. The family is grateful for the kindness of members of the Sons of Norway and St. Mark's Lutheran Church, her close friends in the Salem/Roanoke area and Charlottesville, and for the care she received at Our Lady of Peace.

A Memorial Fund has been established in her name at the College Lutheran Church, 210 South College Avenue, Salem, VA 24153, for the benefit of that Church’s music program.