Doretha E. 'Corey' Mortimore obituary

Contact: Jeanne Baron
Photo of Doretha E. Mortimore.

Doretha E. Mortimore

Doretha E. "Corey" Mortimore, a former director of the Annual Fund at Western Michigan University, died March 20 at home in San Diego, California. She was 73.

Mortimore joined the staff in 1972 and resigned in 1989 after 17 years of service to the University. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Fredic J. Mortimore, WMU associate professor emeritus of public affairs and administration.

Mortimore left WMU to become director of development for the College of Natural Resources at Michigan State University. She went on to become associate vice president and director of development at MSU as well as senior vice president of the Indiana University Foundation.

Doretha E. Mortimore

Mortimore was promoted to director of the Annual Fund in 1984 after having served as assistant director of the unit since 1979.

She began her WMU career as assistant to the director of the Institute of International and Area Studies. She later served as assistant to the director of the Center for Korean Studies and administrative assistant in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences.

Mortimore taught part time in the Department of History from 1974 to 1979 and co-authored "Korea's Response to Japan: The Colonial Period 1910-1945" in 1975 in conjunction with the Center for Korean Studies.

Prior to coming to WMU, she was an instructor in the Department of Teaching Foreign Languages at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea.

A native of Coldwater, Michigan, Mortimore earned three degrees from WMU, a Bachelor of Arts in English and history in 1968, a Master of Arts in Far Eastern and modern U.S. history in 1973 and a Specialist in Arts in Asian studies in 1975.