Dorothy Bernadine Matejka died April 16, 2020, a few hours before her 94 ^th birthday.

Dorothy was born April 17, 1926, to Bernard and Catherine (Konersmann) Macke, the youngest of six sisters. She married Francis S. Matejka on May 28, 1949. Her parents, sisters, husband and daughter Mary preceded her in death.

Internment is at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery on April 30; a celebration of life Mass will follow at Holy Family Parish, Cahokia, at an appropriate time.

Dorothy is survived by Michael (Kari Sandhaas) Matejka, Kathleen (Fred) Wiegard and Nancy (Gary) Daake. She has five grandchildren, Loretta Santejka, Alison Daake, Elizabeth Wiegard, Sara Wiegard (Eric Gennert) and Brandon Daake. Her first great-grandchild is on its way.

Dorothy was a loving soul who delighted in life and its simple pleasures. If one spent five minutes with her a friendship began and more than two visits brought inclusion into her family web. Everyone was greeted with a big smile, warm hug and a deep interest and ready ear.

She was a regular volunteer with numerous organizations, never interested in leadership, just wanting to help. She graduated from Notre Dame Academy in St. Louis in 1944. She was active in church affairs, volunteered with St. Vincent DePaul Society and with her daughter Mary's Special Olympics and other activities. She and her husband helped initiate Holy Family Parish's Saturday bingo fund-raisers in 1971, she was a weekly volunteer until October 2015.

For the last ten years, she reigned as "Queen of the Cousins." Monthly her daughters and nieces gathered for slumber parties, outings, card games and to share hand-crafted, personalized quilts they secretly produced for each other. These events were her highlight and days filled with laughter, tears and joy. For the last eight months Barnes-Jewish Hospital and her family provided home hospice care, with never a complaint from her and a smile for each new day. Hospice staff were soon not providers, but friends.

Dorothy was an avid reader, playing cards and games with family and friends, enjoying her grandchildren, embroidering and enjoyed her St. Louis hometown, from the Cardinals to the Municipal Opera. Her happiest times were when surrounded by the extended family of relatives and her many friends.

She would remind us all to stay close, especially to family, always eat ice cream, plant flowers and enjoy their "yummy colors" and if a can of Busch is opened, "have one for each leg."

No flowers please; Memorial may be made to either The BJC Foundation for Hospice , P.O. Box 790369, St. Louis, Missouri 63179-9917; Catholic Urban Ministries, P.O. Box 3310, East St. Louis, IL 62203 or to St. Clair Associated Vocational Enterprises (SAVE), 3001 Save Road, Belleville, IL 62221