Dorothy Davis Pruden died peacefully on Wednesday, August 4. She was 81 years old.

The daughter of Alice Kirkbride and Glen Meredith Davis, she was born in Toledo, Ohio, and grew up in Birmingham, Mich. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1950, and married William H. Pruden 2nd shortly thereafter. A dedicated homemaker and devoted mother, she put her economics degree to work serving as treasurer of countless organizations in the Ridgewood, N.J. area, including the Junior Women’s Club. A devoted Wellesley alum, she was active in the local Wellesley club, serving in a variety of posts, and also served as an alumnae admissions interviewer for years. As a member of the alumni council, she relished the opportunities she had to return to the campus for reunions and other alumni gatherings. She served for over a decade on the nonpartisan board of education in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., three times winning reelection.

She also was active in the New Jersey Republican party, at one time serving as a local county committee woman.

She summered on the Vineyard for decades and was no less active in that venue serving as the treasurer of the East Chop Tennis Club on the Island.

She is survived by her son, William H. Pruden III and his wife, Caroline of Raleigh, N.C., her son Robert M. Pruden and his wife, Deborah of Glendale, Calif., her daughter Margaret Kirkpatrick and her husband, Thomas of Arlington, her daughter Patricia Pruden-Lennox and her husband, David Lennox of Medway, and grandchildren, William H. Pruden IV of Glendale, Calif., and Cathleen Anne Pruden, Andrew William Pruden, Mary Clare Pruden, and John Patrick Pruden of Raleigh, N.C.

The family wishes to express its gratitude to the Willows of Westborough for the care and compassion provided to Dorothy in her final years.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Wellesley College, Office of Development, 106 Central street, Wellesley, Massachusetts 02481 and/or the East Chop Association, P.O. Box 1916, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.

A memorial service will be held at the East Chop Tennis Club on Martha’s Vineyard, a place she dearly loved, on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 5:30 p.m.