Dorothy Plath, of Yakima and Washington Fruit and Produce, age 91

Our condolences to the family of the late Dorothy Plath, who died July 31 at age 91. She was a celebrated philanthropist, civic leader and beloved mother of the family that runs Washington Fruit and Produce Co. in Yakima, Washington.

Here is an except from the obituary in the Yakima Herald-Republic:

“She was a great, great lady,” said Christine Coté, president of Perry Technical Institute.

Dorothy and her late husband, Fred, were well known for their philanthropic donations to local organizations, such as Perry Tech, the Yakima Greenway and various scholarship funds.

“They were generous to the entire community, not just us,” noted Al Brown, Greenway Foundation executive director. “The footprint of Fred and Dodo (Dorothy’s nickname) is all around town, and the kids footprints are, too. They’ve been an extraordinary family to the community.”

A portion of the Greenway, from Sixth Street to 40th Avenue, is known as the Plath Pathway, funded by Fred and Dorothy. Last year Plath Hall opened at Perry Tech, built with seed money from the family.

More recently the Plath family, which includes the couple’s three sons, Peter, Rick and Cliff, donated $700,000 to the Yakima Union Gospel Mission to complete its medical care center and gave $2 million to the campaign to build the Downtown Yakima Plaza.