Dorothy (Dot) Roberts Hyde was born in 1920 in Buncombe County, N.C. to John Harvey and Myrtle Spain Roberts.
She died at Woods Assisted Living at Givens Estates in Asheville, N.C. on Wednesday, March 30, 2022.
She was the wife of Arnold James Hyde (deceased), and the mother of Sarah Diane Sasson of Chapel Hill (Jack Sasson) and Brenda Hyde Rogers of Durham (Weaver Rogers, deceased).
She was the grandmother of three beloved grandsons: David Sasson (Gabrielle) of Pelham, N.Y.; Noah Sasson (Amy) of Dallas, Texas; and Daniel Sasson of Charleston, S.C.; and the great-grandmother to Adina, Ben, Abe and Eliza.
Dot graduated from Oakley School as valedictorian in 1936 and attended Asheville Normal Teacher’s College, graduating in 1940 with a BS degree in education.
Unable to get a teaching job in Buncombe County, she worked at the Sayles Biltmore Bleachery until county superintendent T.C. Roberson helped her find a teaching job in Robbinsville, N.C. A young, pretty elementary school teacher, she was quickly noticed by Arnold Hyde, another teacher. They were married in 1943.
Their only time living outside of the mountains of North Carolina was during the war, when Arnold worked as a civil servant and Dot was employed by the Navy Cost Inspection Office in New Orleans, La.
Returning to Robbinsville just before the end of the war, they began a family with the birth of Diane in 1946. They moved to Buncombe County in 1950 and lived in the Enka-Candler community until moving to Givens Estates in 2005.
Dot was a social worker in the Buncombe County Department of Social Services and later was the driver for the Buncombe County social worker for the blind Marjorie McCune, a close friend and a colleague of Arnold who was a social worker supervisor for the western counties for the Commission for the Blind.
Her most cherished work, however, was as wife and mother/grandmother, skilled homemaker, volunteer, gardener and protector of the natural world.
Dot was a founder and longtime secretary/treasurer of the West Chapel Cemetery, Inc., to ensure the maintenance of the cemetery where her parents and many relatives were buried.
She was also a charter member of the Old Buncombe Genealogy Society, where she volunteered for many years. She was an active member of the Sand Hill Good Neighbor Club and Acton Methodist Church.
Dot was a warm, kind, gentle and loving woman, committed to her family and community. She built a wonderful life in her new community at Givens Estates, where she received excellent care, especially at Woods Assisted Living, in her later years. With support from hospice, she was able to remain in her own room until her death.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 23, 2022 in the chapel of Givens Estates (100 Wesley Drive, Asheville, N.C.)
Contributions may be made in her memory to:
The Buncombe County School Foundation for The Arnold and Dorothy Hyde Scholarship
175 Bingham Road
Asheville, NC 28806; or
MANNA Foodbank
627 Swannanoa River Road
Asheville, NC 28805.
To offer online condolences, please visitmtnviewcremation.com.
Mountain View Cremation & Funeral Care in Arden, N.C. assisted the family.