Fun with Find a Grave: Dorothy Gale

Fun with Find a Grave!

I love Movies and I love Genealogy so I thought- why not put them together? 

Today's Character Name: Dorothy Gale
~Dorothy Gale is the protagonist in the Wizard of Oz.


The Wizard of Oz was first a novel written by Lyman Frank Baum (L. Frank Baum) in 1900 and named it The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

L. Frank Baum:
B. 15 May 1856
D. 06 May 1919-- Buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park
                          Glendale, Los Angeles, California

In 1939, The wizard of Oz became a movie where 16 year old Judy Garland played Dorothy:

Judy Garland:
B. 10 Jun 1922
D. 22 Jun 1969--Buried in Ferncliff Cemetery & Mausoleum
                         Hartsdale, Westchester, New York

So how many Dorothy Gale's are there on Find a Grave??  71! 
(This is searching maiden and married names of "Gale")

In the story, Dorothy was from Kansas, so I thought it would be fun to search if any of these "Dorothy Gale's" were buried in Kansas- there was only 1!

Dorothy J. Gale McKinsey
B. 30 Jul 1936
D. 30 Mar 1971-- Buried in Sutton Cemetery 
                          Baldwin City, Douglas, Kansas


Dorothy was born Dorothy Jean Gale on 30 Jul 1936 in Douglas County, Kansas to Charles H. Gale & Ruth Marquardt. She had at least one sister- Charlene. Dorothy married "unknown" McKinsey on 21 Dec 1954 and they had 2 daughters. McKinsey was the son of Charles Estel McKinsey & Martha Heffley. 

I found only one census record for Dorothy- since she was born in 1936:

11 Apr 1940: Willow Springs, Douglas, Kansas
Daughter; Home was Rented for $12/Mo.; She lived with her Parents (Father was a farmer), her sister Charlene and her Grandfather. 

Dorothy died at the age of 34 on 30 Mar 1971 of cancer (type- unknown).