Remembering Dorothy Elder

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Dorothy and I first met in a Los Angeles restaurant during a visit to meet with California readers in spring of 1998. She was seated at my table, and I was immediately impressed by Dorothy’s charming smile and intellectual acuity...

Dorothy Elder & Georges Michelson-Dupont

Editor’s Note: This article is a loving tribute to Dorothy Elder, co-founder of Urantia Book International School (UBIS) and dear friend of many, who departed for the mansion worlds on January 24. Several people who knew and worked with Dorothy shared their memories with us.

Georges Michelson-Dupont, international vice president and manager of translations, Urantia Foundation, Recloses, France

Dorothy and I first met in a Los Angeles restaurant during a visit to meet with California readers in spring of 1998. She was seated at my table, and I was immediately impressed by Dorothy’s charming smile and intellectual acuity. She had a clear vision of the situation surrounding the Urantia movement in the United States at the time, and displayed an upright and unwavering commitment to Urantia Foundation. She spoke softly but firmly, articulating her point of view with a certain passion that commanded respect. I was charmed by this lady, who was 20 years my senior.

Several months later, we met again in Helsinki at a conference organized by the Finnish Urantia Association. Naturally we exchanged our points of view on the future of the revelation. She explained her life's journey in a few words; having retired from education, she wanted to be useful.

I told her about my project to use the newest tool, the internet, to create an online school, adopting a non-interpretative pedagogy. It would be implemented as part of the Foundation's mission and would be based on readings, questions, answers, and sharing. To my delight, the idea appealed to her, and we immediately came up with a name for it: Urantia Book Internet School (UBIS). The school was born through the convergence of an idea and an expertise.

Dorothy built the foundations of the school, its organization, and its curriculum. She recruited the first teachers, trained them in the skills of non-interpretation, and taught them how to design a course. Jay Peregrine assisted with the technical side. The first English courses were offered via email in September 1999.

In September 2010, after 11 years of effort and perseverance, and with additional courses in Spanish and French, Dorothy passed the torch to me. This year we celebrate our 25th anniversary, with seven languages and more to come.

Dorothy, you will remain in my heart as an example of courage, tenacity, and dedication to the Urantia Revelation. Thanks to you, truth seekers on five continents have access to free online courses, scores of trained facilitators, and fellow students with whom to share The Urantia Book!

Jane Ploetz

Jane Ploetz

Dorothy was indefatigable, brilliant, and devoted to spreading the teachings of The Urantia Book. She always kept a carton of books in the trunk of her car, just in case someone she’d been talking to about it wanted one right then. [Those who knew Dorothy will remember her signature use of italics and underlining; she wrote like she spoke, with emphasis and passion.—Ed.]

I admired Dorothy for being such a competent teacher of teachers. She not only had a deep understanding of all the pieces of this two-thousand-page revelation, she knew how the pieces fit together.

More than her knowledge, what I appreciated most were her classroom skills. She knew how to put together a group of questions that would create good discussions week after week, and would lead to undeniable conclusions and essential truths in those papers. Dorothy wanted students to have more than a list of facts. She truly believed that “a mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited.”

What Dorothy did so artfully was graciously monitor the interaction of her students, so they all independently reached those conclusions themselves. She knew how to step in when needed, and would handle an argumentative or domineering student with grace and tact, all the while keeping the conversation moving in a positive direction, without anyone noticing what she had just done.

She did great work here during her time on this backward planet, and I feel privileged to have known and worked with her on this very meaningful project.

Rick Lyon

Rick Lyon

I truly loved and respected Dorothy. I met her on my first visit to the Foundation to attend a Urantia gathering in the early 1990s. I sat to her left and was immediately impressed with her knowledge and wisdom and how she treated this newbie as one of the family. I will never forget that.

I later came to know Dorothy through UBIS, first as my teacher, then as a mentor, and later a teammate. I got to spend a weekend at her home when UBIS converted from email to a website. She taught me a lot about UBIS, and I taught her a little bit about this “newfangled” internet thing. She left our planet knowing that UBIS is in very capable hands with a solid future.

Judy Ann Cosky

Judy Cosky

I took my first UBIS course over 20 years ago and eventually joined the staff. The internet was fairly new, but that did not deter Dorothy from establishing and growing an online school before there were solid online educational platforms. We used a primitive platform that was constantly breaking down! But Dorothy persevered, and look where we are today. It is a lesson for all of us to recall and embrace on our journey to Paradise!

Ralph Zehr, Betty Zehr

Ralph and Betty Zehr

Dorothy was an accomplished educator who seized upon the opportunity to apply her insights and experience to sharing the marvelous teachings of the fifth epochal revelation with spiritually hungry students around the world.

When invited to join UBIS nearly 15 years ago, little did we realize that working with Dorothy and her team would be such a meaningful retirement experience. It was a high privilege to work with such a committed group who served as teacher-facilitators for the school, which was led and inspired by a truly outstanding leader and administrator, our dear Dorothy.

Perhaps the most important contribution Dorothy has made to the educational outreach of the fifth epochal revelation is the wisdom that she and Georges displayed in laying the pedagogical foundation for UBIS—The Urantia Book itself.

The operation of the school is such that no one stands between the student and the source of truth. The true teachers are the Spirit of Truth and the indwelling Thought Adjusters which guide each student in their pursuit of discovering God and his love for his sons and daughters.