Dorothy J. Penuel was born on January 8, 1923, in Fargo to parents George and Berdie Jenson.
She grew up in Fargo and graduated from Fargo Central in 1940.
Dorothy attended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, Fairview School of Nursing in Minneapolis, MN, and Interstate Business College, Fargo, ND. She went to work at NDSU at the School of Chemistry and Physics, where she worked for 20 years. She transferred to UND, as Assistant to the Dean of the College of Business. She retired in 1997 after 30 years and a total of 50 years with the University system.
She married James J. Penuel, Jr., on June 8, 1946, at First Lutheran Church in Fargo and together they raised three children.
Dorothy died Thursday, January 24, 2013, at Sanford Health in Fargo.
Dorothy is survived by her sons, James (Barbara Oslie) Penuel III of Cody, WY, and Thomas (Millie) Penuel of Fargo, ND; sister Marjorie Sholy of Fargo; and four grandchildren, Carissa Penuel, Chelsey Penuel, Timothy Weaver, and Jezriah Krubeck.
She was preceded in death by her daughter Laurie, her parents, and two brothers, George Jenson and Lloyd Jenson.
Dorothy will be interred next to her father, mother, and daughter at Riverside Cemetery in Fargo.