On February 25, 2021 Delores Lorene (Meredith) Hansel, known as Dore’, passed away in the early hours of the morning, after a long illness. Dore’ had been living in Mars Hill Retirement Community, in Mars Hill, NC.
Born in El Reno, Oklahoma in 1935 to Clarence William (“CW”) Meredith, and Stella Marie (Bratton) Waring, Dore’ spent her early years in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas. She studied speech therapy at the Univ. of Oklahoma, and later attended Central Missouri State Univ. where she earned her BS in Social Work. At Tulane Univ. she was awarded a National Inst. of Mental Health fellowship and earned her Master’s in Social Work in 1965. Her 50 + year career as a social worker included a variety of positions, including director of the summer day camp for the Jewish Community Center of New Orleans and group therapist at the Alcoholic Rehab. Unit at SE Louisiana State Hospital.
In 1967 she took a teaching position at Univ. of South Florida as an Assistant Professor in the Behavioral and Community Science Department, while also serving as an instructor and trainer in the USF Women’s Studies and Peer Counseling Programs, and provided individual and group therapy at the USF Counseling Center. She was a consultant to The Rap House community center in New Port Richey, FL. In 1974 she earned an ATHENA Award for her outstanding work in women’s advocacy in the community, and in 1975 received the Key to the City of St. Petersburg for her contribution to the field of mental health.
Her marriage in 1956 to Daniel J. Sprehe, MD ended in divorce in 1967. In the early 1970’s Dore’ married Robert (“Bob”) C. Hansel, and in 1975 Dore’, Bob and her daughter, Nicki, moved to a 110-acre farm near Mars Hill in the mountains of western NC, where she and Bob lived for over 32 years until he died in 2007 and where she continued to live with her mother until 2010. While in Mars Hill, Dore’ was an Assistant Professor and Development Training Coordinator in the Social Work Program at Mars Hill College while also serving in eight community services agencies in Madison and Yancey counties, the Land-of-Sky Regional Council, and Council for Aging. She served on the Boards of the Council on Appalachian Women and the Celo Education and Health Committee, and as Secretary of the Greater Ivy Community Organization and Madison County Arts Council. She was involved in hospice care throughout western North Carolina.
After Dore’ left Mars Hill College she started a craft business called Country Angel, sewing over 1,000 hand-made flannel, smocked and/or embroidered nightgowns. Her counseling practice continued, while her spiritual life grew in many directions. Raised as an evangelical Christian, and later Catholic, Baptist and then Episcopalian, Dore’ had an extensive library of books on eastern and western religion that took up a whole wall in her house. She practiced Yoga (a follower of A. Ravi Ravindran), co-founded the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Mars Hill, and was active in the Gurdjieff “Work” of giving up fantasies and illusions, and converting her energies into something higher. She worked to re-discover her relationship to everything, and especially “to be present” in the moment.
Dore’ is survived by her two children, Tom Sprehe and Monica (“Nicki”) Sprehe Toole, who returned to Mars Hill in 2020 to be close to her mom, and by her four grandchildren. In her final years, Dore’ focused much of her energy on simplifying her life, minimizing her possessions, giving away cars, art, books, and most of all LOVE… and as she so often said: “you can take as much as you want”. She will be missed by countless souls that she touched with her compassion and love.
A private funeral and burial service and an open celebration will be held at a date to be determined. In lieu of flowers, it is asked that contributions be made to any charity. Condolences can be sent to the family at www.blueridgefuneralservice.org, or they can be mailed to Blue Ridge Funeral Service, PO Box 27, Mars Hill, NC 28754.