Dorothy Karpinsky

Dorothy passed on to heaven’s glorious gates on January 24, 2024.

Dorothy was born in Waco, Texas to Clifton and Dorothy Hamill on September 10, 1927. She was raised in Valley Mills, Texas where she grew up in a large, blended family sharing her life with 18 siblings.

In 1944, while standing on a bus in San Antonio, Texas a strapping US Army soldier, Joseph Karpinsky, offered Dorothy his seat. Shortly after they dated and then married in San Antiono in 1945. They started a wonderful life together living in Pennsylvania where Dorothy saw her “first real snow fall and ate her first slice of pizza”. Shortly after they moved back to Texas where Joseph was employed by the department of defense, settling in Waco, then Abilene, Texas.

In 1964, they adopted Sherry Lynn, who became the “apple of their eyes”.

Dorothy was a devoted disciple of Christ. Dorothy’s devotion to the lord was a torch she carried throughout her life. A longtime member of Parkview Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. Dorothy and her friends Louise and Sue shared the same pew every service, and were fondly called Larry, Moe, and Curley by Pastor Collier.

Dorothy was a caring person dedicating her life to helping others. Walking her grandson Mark to Parkview school every day and helping him with his studies. Caring for stray animals always making sure they had food, and water. Caring for her extended family and always staying in touch with her siblings.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph who passed in 1971; brother, Bob; and several members of her extended family. She was very close to her stepsister, Barbara Murphree who recently passed, sharing many special family memories at the Sanders/Hamill reunions in Valley Mills.

She is survived by her daughter, Sherry Peppard and husband, Karl, of Speegleville, TX; grandson, Mark Barrington of Waco, TX; brother, Johnny of West Palm Beach, FL; and several nieces and nephews.

Friends and family visitation will be Tuesday January 30, 2024 from 5:00 to 7:00 at Oak Crest Funeral Home in Waco, TX. A graveside service will be Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at 11:00am at Waco Memorial Park Rose Garden in Waco, TX.

Honorary pallbearers are Mark Barrington, Bobby Hamill, Ken Hutyra, Karl Peppard, W.L. Sanders, and Johnny Alan York.

Dorothy will always hold a special place in all the lives that she touched and will be missed.