Obituary: In fond memory of Dorothy Wolcott

– May 30, 2025

Former longtime Aspenite Dottie Wolcott passed away peacefully at her Florida home on May 30 in the company of dear friends, following a brief bout with various health complications that come with a long life, well lived.
Her age shall not be revealed, out of fear of retribution from the great beyond. For years, she said each birthday was her 39th and, in truth, she was eternally 39 in spirit. She faced her final days with her hallmark grace and humor, telling a nurse who asked if she needed anything that she’d like a glass of wine. When she awoke during a medical procedure, she said, “what a shit show” and went back to sleep.
Dottie was born Dorothy Lane Roberts in Ossining, N.Y., daughter of Ralph Roberts and Margaret Roberts (Keating). She attended a prep school for girls in Dobbs Ferry and college in Massachusetts before heading west to San Francisco with three chums. After a ski trip to Aspen, taken at the urging of their boyfriends, the foursome returned to San Francisco, quit their jobs and moved to Aspen.
She worked as a singer/server at the Crystal Palace, where the wait staff also performed the nightly show, and she ran a bed-and-breakfast with her husband, Bud, for a time. But Dottie is perhaps best remembered for her long tenure as business manager at The Aspen Times. Visitors to the newspaper office were greeted by her remarkable warmth and smile at the front desk. She was a den mother to young staffers who were far from home and a treasured friend to many in the newspaper’s ranks.
Prior to her stint at The Times, for decades Dottie was the business and property manager for alpine ski racer Stein Eriksen’s retail outlets and real estate holdings, as well as the office manager for Flying Color Advertising.
For years, Dottie was among the team of volunteers who ran the refreshment stand at the Music Tent. She was active in the Aspen Winter Club, Aspen Ski Club, the Pro-Am Tennis Grand Championships Club event, the Smuggler Racquet Club and the Aspen Hall of Fame.
She adored her friends, all variations of dogs, chardonnay and professional tennis. Grand Slam tournaments found her glued to the TV. Hopefully, she has had the best seat in the house at the French Open this past week.

Dottie retired from The Times and moved to Fort Myers, Fla. in 2022, relishing the sunshine and lower altitude. There, she played host to a revolving door of Colorado friends who came to visit and made a host of new ones at the evening happy hours in her condo complex.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles “Bud” Wolcott and her parents, Ralph Roberts and Margaret Keating; her sister, Clarice, as well as her daughter from another mother, Gunilla Asher. She is survived by her husband’s children, Antoinette Wolcott and Charles Kipling Wolcott, and countless friends.
A celebration of life is being planned this summer in Aspen – yet to be determined when and where – and another in the Seven Lakes community in Fort Myers on Dec. 6, 2025.