Dorothy Lee Witwer

Dorothy Lee Witwer was a long term board member who made an incredible difference for Reef Relief. Her support for local educational programs was undisputed, and she was a special fan of the Marine Debris Timeline to prevent ocean dumping. Along with her husband George Witwer, they joined the board about ten years ago. We first met the Witwers when Sally Lewis recommended that they contact Reef Relief to donate the Wild Wit–a beautiful cabin cruiser boat, which we accepted just in time to begin the monthly Key West Outfall Monitoring Study in cooperation with the state. Lee rose to the position of Vice President and held that position for many years, playing a key role in leading the organization into more and better educational and advocacy programs, especially for clean water. The Witwer’s were honored by Reef Relief for Volunteers of the Year after Dorothy had been the one present to make the award on behalf of Reef Relief for many years. That’s the way it was; she was always there for Reef Relief! Our friendship with the Witwers grew over the years and their granddaughter, Dolly Householder, interned at Reef Relief along with her friend Simon, whom she has since married. They now live in Norway, where Dolly has completed her doctorate in marine fisheries from the University of Bergen in June, 2009. Dorothy is still a volunteer on the board of Reef Relief, but no longer an officer. As a Reef Relief board member she is “Proud to be helping to carry on educational and environmental programs that we started.”