Dorothy (Blair) Heying (seated), shown with her good friend Rita Thomas, wife of the late Jim Thomas (Jim was a member of the Truman faculty from 1964 to 1994).

Dorothy (Blair) Heying, a 1938 Truman alumna, celebrated her 103rd birthday on Dec. 5, 2012.
Born in 1909 in St. Louis, Heying’s family soon moved after her father purchased a variety store in Vandalia, Mo. Throughout her childhood, Heying’s passion for education and teaching was encouraged by her parents. During her junior year in high school, she accepted a teaching position in Potosi, Mo., after completing a teacher training course that resulted in a two-year teaching certificate.

Determined to achieve a degree in education, Heying attended classes for a series of eight summers at Truman back when the school was known as Northeast Missouri State Teachers College. During that time, she sang in the college chorus and performed in a production of “The Barber of Seville.”

Heying’s teaching career spanned more than 50 years, and she taught at schools in Hermann and Rhineland, Mo. She retired from teaching at age 70.