“My grandmother once said, ‘Although loss hurts, you know there is love when you lose someone or something, and the loss forever changes your heart and shapes your being. It is a blessing to cherish when something or someone is gone — the absence filled with meaning of how it transformed your heart.’”

— Tom Cole

Kids Unlimited’s beloved “Grandma” Dorothy Schoder, age 97, passed away peacefully Sunday, Jan. 19, at her Medford residence. Remembered for her kindness, generosity, love of reading and enthusiasm for Lady Panthers basketball, Grandma Dorothy is one of the greatest gifts KU has ever known.

KU’s library and science lab memorialize Grandma Dorothy for her monetary contributions. Her physical presence in these spaces, however, reinforced her belief in the importance of education and encouraging kids with a kind word and a few minutes of undivided attention. Grandma Dorothy, said KU founder Tom Cole, wasn’t just a donor but a doer.

“She’s had a generational impact on thousands of lives,” said Cole, who has counted Dorothy among his dearest friends during her 15 years of involvement with KU and KU Academy.

Grandma Dorothy revisited her namesake “reading corner” in KU’s Kimmel Family Resource Center for her 97th birthday last April. This cozy nook where Grandma Dorothy connected with hundreds of kids in KUA’s library remains a place where staff and other volunteers can do the same. Sometimes students who got to read with Grandma Dorothy, said Cole, needed a break from the classroom; sometimes they wanted to read; and sometimes they just wanted to talk with a sympathetic adult.

“Her wisdom is just unique,” Cole told the Mail Tribune in 2017. “She can sit back and observe, and (she) reminds us that the best is yet to come.”

Accompanied by a caregiver, Grandma Dorothy attended both KU’s Hope for the Holidays benefit in December and her last Lady Panthers home game. Athletics, Dorothy said, offer “well-rounded” lessons that can’t always be learned in a classroom.

Grandma Dorothy was a particular fan of KU basketball alumna, now Lady Panthers assistant coach, Yaremi Mejia. Dorothy recalled Mejia as a fifth grader “full of mischief” who “absorbed” everything she could from Cole, her coach and mentor. Winning a college basketball scholarship and earning a master’s degree, Mejia “turned a light on” in the community, Grandma Dorothy recalled for KU’s 25th anniversary book.

“She learned more than just basketball, more than the classroom,” said Dorothy. “She learned all she needed to develop herself. It’s just priceless.”

KU’s priceless relationship with Grandma Dorothy will live on for the next generation of students through the projects she cherished most.