Dolorese Eloise Pitts

Dolorese Eloise Pitts of Raytown, Missouri, passed away on December 10, 2022. She was 85 years old. Services will be held at Heartland Cremation & Burial Society, 6113 Blue Ridge Blvd, Raytown, MO, on Monday, December 19. Visitation will be held from 10:00am to 11:00am. Funeral immediately following at 11:00am to 12:00pm.

Dolorese, known as Dee to friends and family, was born on August 16, 1937, in Maryville, MO. Dee’s tenacious spirit, as well as her boundless faith, carried her through many hardships in early life. As a young girl, she survived the measles, scarlet fever, polio, and more. She greatly admired her mother, Mabel Jessie Maness, and was especially close to her cousins, Judy, Janice, and Marilyn.

No stranger to hard work, Dee got her first job in a soda shop at age 13 making 35 cents an hour. She graduated from Rockport High School in 1955, moved to Kansas City, MO, and started working at General Mills on the plaza. It was there she met Richard Dale Pitts. Dee and Dale married on October 6, 1957, at Roanoke Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO. In 1960, they purchased their house in Raytown, MO, where they raised their two children. Dee kept working in several fields, including most recently health research services, where she managed several accounts. After she retired in 1990, she enjoyed being a dedicated member of the Independence Young Matrons and continued doing the Lord’s work at Sterling Acres Baptist Church by serving on the counting committee, teaching Sunday school to kids and adults, and doing “a little bit of everything.”

As a lover of travel, Dee took many trips in her lifetime. She visited every state in the U.S. except Minnesota and Maine, and she especially loved touring Israel during an international trip with Ken and Sharon Basham of the church. Frugal all her life, Dee never lived beyond her means, a trait which allowed her the freedom to give generously to the Lord here on earth and also to those around her. While it is impossible to encapsulate Dee’s life in a few paragraphs, her loved ones agree that she was a light to all who knew her.

Dee is survived by her husband, Richard Dale Pitts; her sons, David Pitts and Douglas Pitts; her daughter-in-law, Barbara Jordan; her four grandchildren, Jared, Taylor, Justin, and Lindsay Pitts; and her brother, C.M. “Bud” Harger Jr, his wife, Kay, and their children, Debra and C.M. Harger III.

Remembrance in lieu of flowers can be made to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions or the Samaritan’s Purse for international relief.