TIMONIUM, Md. -– Dorothy “Dottie” H. Duke died Friday, Jan. 8, 2010, at the Gilchrist Hospice Care Center in Towson, Md. after a valiant nine-year battle with breast cancer. She was 86.

Dorothy Hammer was born on Dec. 17, 1923 in Baltimore and raised on Frederick Avenue. She was a 1941 graduate of Forest Park High School and graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

“Charcoal was her medium of choice, with portraits and landscapes her preferred subjects,” said her husband of 53 years, Chester A. “Chet” Duke, a semi-retired CLU with the New York Life Insurance Company.

Mrs. Duke worked as a telephone operator for the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. and later as a bookkeeper for the old Robert Garrett & Sons, a Baltimore brokerage firm, before her marriage.

A longtime resident of Wakefield in Dulaney Valley, Mrs. Duke’s philanthropic interests included the Baltimore Community Foundation, ARC of Baltimore, Virginia Tech Foundation, the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., Rangeley Friends of the Arts, Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, and the Rangeley Lakes Historical Society, among many other worthwhile charities.

For over 50 years, Mrs. Duke enjoyed attending football and basketball games at Virginia Tech, where her husband earned his bachelor’s degree.

An avid world traveler, Mrs. Duke enjoyed many ocean cruises, particularly to Norway, Alaska and Hawaii. Also a railway train buff, she was thrilled when she was a passenger on the famous Orient Express in the mid 1990s, not long after it was restored to service. She also attended annual New York Life Chairman’s Council educational meetings with her husband.

She acquired a love of Maine from her husband who was stationed at Winter Harbor as a member of the U.S. Naval Intelligence during World War II. In 1978, after exploring many areas of Maine, they settled on Mooselookmeguntic Lake, staying at Clearwater Camps (formerly known as Camp Edan) for 18 years. In the fall of 1996, Mr. & Mrs. Duke purchased their summer home, Captain Barker’s daughter’s camp, the “Poet’s Lodge” on Mooselookmeguntic Lake, from local resident, Fred Harnden.

A lifelong lover of animals, she adored her pets, a Golden Retriever, Chester III and three cats, Hokie, Baxter and Samantha.

She was a communicant of Epiphany Episcopal Church in Timonium, Md., where a memorial service was held on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010.

In addition to her husband, survivors include two daughters, Lisa A. Duke and Sherrie L. Duke, both of Timonium, Md.; a sister, Carole Hammer Goodrich of Centreville, Md.; and three nieces and a nephew.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Rangeley Friends of the Arts, P.O. Box 333, Rangeley, Maine 04970; the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, P.O. Box 249, Oquossoc, Maine 04964; the Rangeley Lakes Historical Society, P.O. Box 521, Rangeley, Maine 04970; or the Franklin County Animal Shelter, 550 Industry Road, Farmington, Maine 04938.