Dotty Botkin Korman

Dorothy (Dotty) Jean Korman, 91, of Abilene, passed away peacefully on May 28, 2019 at her residence in Southlake, Texas.  The family will gather for a graveside service at 11:00AM on Saturday, June 1st at Elmwood Memorial Park.  A memorial service will follow at 1:00PM at First Christian Church of Abilene located at 1420 North 3rd Street.  Services are under the direction of The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road.

Dotty, born November 8, 1927, grew up on a ranch in Abilene where Buffalo Gap Road and Rebecca Lane now intersect.  It was there she learned to ride and raise horses.  As her attraction for horses grew in her teenage years, she became an award winning competitor at some of the premier horse & stock shows throughout Texas and New Mexico. She and her dad, Doc Botkin, showed palomino horses.  Her favorite and most famous steed was El Centro who competed nationally and won many blue ribbons. 

While showing horses was an exciting lifestyle, Dotty’s real passion of dance was developing simultaneously.   After graduating from Abilene High School in 1945, Dotty became immersed in the art of dance and spent the next 20 years training under some of the best Dance Masters in studios located in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Her passion, talent and desire led her to be an active member and board member with multiple dance associations throughout the United States including Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, National Association of Dance Masters of America and Texas Association Teachers of Dancing where she became a 50-year life member.  In 1952, after studying and teaching dancing, she decided to start the Dotty Botkin Dance Studio in Abilene which she owned and operated until 1991.  Outside her family, teaching dancing provided her with the most joyous time in her life.  It is hard to find a dancer in Abilene that was not taught or influenced by the Dotty Botkin Dance Studio, where she trained in the disciplines of ballet, tap, jazz and ballroom dancing.

In 1954, she married her beloved husband, John Korman of Abilene, with whom she spent the next 52 years dancing, traveling, and enjoying a zest for life.  They were blessed with their only child, a daughter, Shawn, son-in-law, Jim and her twin granddaughters, Brooke and Blaire.  Dotty’s insatiable sense for adventure led her to travel to countless countries on 6 of 7 continents highlighted by riding a camel in Egypt, an elephant in Thailand, hugging a koala bear and sailing the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, climbing the Pyramids in Egypt, riding the Orient Express, a gondola in Venice, as well as the world’s largest Ferris Wheel in Belgium.  Dotty was an adventurous person who would try anything once.

Additionally, Dotty was a deep person of faith and was an active lifetime member of First Christian Church.

Dotty was preceded in death by her parents C.E. “Doc” and Frances Botkin, her husband John “Buddy” Korman, and one nephew.  She is survived by her daughter, Shawn Batjer and her husband Jim of Westlake, Texas and her twin granddaughters, Brooke Batjer and Blaire Batjer of Fort Worth, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Gilbert and Dottie Korman of Abilene, as well as numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be given in Dotty’s honor to the West Texas Rehabilitation Center, 4601 Hartford, Abilene, Texas 79605; or to the Ben Richey Boys Ranch, P.O. Box 6839, Abilene, Texas 79608.