Dorothy Baker Kurland died peacefully in Pittsburgh, PA, on September 3, 2024.

Dorothy was born in Pottsville, PA, on January 12, 1940, to Saul and Sylvia Baker. After graduating from The Pennsylvania State University in 1961, she earned a PhD in Chemistry from Harvard University in 1967; her 1963 master’s degree was one of the first Harvard diplomas issued to a woman. While at Harvard, Dorothy met fellow chemistry student Jonathan Kurland at a department picnic and they were married in 1964.

Dorothy spent most of her career teaching general chemistry and organic chemistry at West Virginia Institute of Technology. She held her students to a high standard, and herself to a higher standard, both personally and professionally: she ironed or folded every laundry item, and was the most skilled player in family bridge games. In addition to teaching, she was a highly respected accuracy checker and solutions manual author for chemistry textbooks.

In retirement Dorothy relished her role as “Granny Nanny” and traveled the world with Jon. When Jon’s progressive spinal cord tumor led to his paraplegia, she mastered the nursing skills required for Jon’s care in his final few years until his death in 2021, shortly after their 57th wedding anniversary. Her love and dedication to him during that time—and her fierce determination—are even more impressive considering, in retrospect, that she was likely experiencing the onset of dementia.

Dorothy is survived by her children Brenda (Mitch Dernis, Pittsburgh, PA) and Zelig (Rachel Markowitz, New Paltz, NY); four grandchildren (Avishai and Shuli Dernis, Ruth and Zev Kurland), and loving family and friends across the country and the world.

You may send condolences to her family at www.barlowbonsall.com .

Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.