Dorothy Ann (Zagres) Tortorice, 82, of Houston, Texas, died peacefully on July 18, 2026.

Dorothy was born on January 28, 1944, in Ottumwa, Iowa, to Evangelos and Olive (Horn) Zagres, as the youngest of eight children. She graduated from Ottumwa High School in 1962 and, soon after, boarded a train for Southern California, where several of her sisters had already settled. She took classes at Cal State Long Beach and went to work in the collections department at Bank of California. While moving into an apartment in Los Angeles in March of 1968, she met a neighbor that would turn out to be the love of her life - James Wendell Tortorice. They were married on November 30, 1968.

Dorothy worked throughout her marriage as an executive secretary and later as a paralegal, though she often took summers off to spend with her children, filling those months with beach trips and other adventures. She and Jim lived and raised their children in Irvine, California from about 1976 to 1997, when they moved to Houston, Texas. Dorothy had a gift for making holidays feel extra special, and she loved nothing more than inviting people over for dinner on the spur of the moment - filling her home with love and laughter. A lifelong learner, she was an avid reader all her life. After losing Jim in 2016, her cat Pearl brought her enormous comfort; Pearl now lives with her son's family in Colorado.

Dorothy is survived by her daughter, Janel Tortorice, and her wife, Deborah Vela, of Houston; her son, Michael Tortorice, and his wife, Danielle (Phillip) Tortorice, and their children, James Phillip and Zoe Judith, of Colorado; and her sister, Norma Jean (Zagres) Gardner, of Wisconsin. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and her other six siblings.

A private interment service will be held at the National Cemetery, followed by a celebration of Dorothy's life on Friday, August 7, from 2:30 to 4:30 PM at The Village of River Oaks in Houston.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Friends for Life (friends4life.org) in her honor. This is the organization where Dorothy found her sweet girl Pearl.

Dorothy will be deeply missed. Her family finds comfort in knowing that she is reunited with her beloved Jimmy.