Lieutenant Colonel Dorothy Jean McKean (née Nabors) age 74, affectionately known as Dottie to her family and friends, went home to the arms of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on March 21 st , 2026. Dottie lost her courageous two-year battle with breast cancer surrounded and supported by her family.

Dottie was born in Birmingham, Alabama on December 7 th , 1951, to Paul and Dorothy Nabors. She was the youngest of three daughters and a red head like her father. Her passion for caring for patients as a “Candy Striper” volunteer at a local hospital led her to attend the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing. Graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Dottie became an operating room nurse at the UAB Hospital. Despite having no family members as veterans, Dottie joined the US Army Reserve as an Army Nurse Corps 1 st Lieutenant. Her pursuit of adventure led to her entering active duty with the US Army in 1979 where she was promoted to Captain and completed her Officer Basic Course training at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. From there she was assigned to the Army Hospital at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, the home of the 101 st Airborne (Air Assault) Division.

In 1980, Dottie married Mark McKean, a 2 nd Lieutenant with the 101 st . She left active duty in 1982 and re- entered the Army Reserve to allow her to transfer and follow her husband who continued his Army career. Assigned to Ft. Benning, Georgia, Dottie gave birth to her son Jesse in 1982 and Joshua in 1984. In 1994 upon her husband’s retirement from the Army, Dottie and her family eventually relocated to Garland, Texas. Continuing her Army Reserve career, she became an Ob-Gyn nurse for Vernon & Waldrep Ob-Gyn Associates at Medical City Dallas. She completed her career with the US Army Reserve in 2011, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and retired from nursing in 2013 to help care for her grandchildren.

Dottie was a spirited and one-of-a-kind woman who faithfully attended church and always made it home in time to watch the Dallas Cowboys. Her influence on her two sons was so profound, they both married nurses. She was a woman who loved God, adored her children
and grandchildren, and made sure they could take on the world without her. Her husband always called her his Proverbs 31 (v.10-31) woman. She was irreplaceable and will be greatly missed.

She is survived by her devoted husband of 46 years, Mark McKean; sons, Jesse McKean and Joshua McKean; daughters-in-law, Staci McKean and Sara McKean; grandchildren, Noah (12), Olive (9), Leah (9), and Watson (6); sisters, Margaret Cables and Harriett (Wade) Mahlke; niece, Paula Burchenal; nephew, John Pflasterer.

The funeral will be held on Tuesday, March 31 st at 2:00pm at the DFW National Cemetery 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy, Dallas, TX 75211.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Tuesday, March 31 st at 3:30pm at Woodcreek Church 3400 E Renner Rd, Richardson, TX 75082. 

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a charity of your choice that would honor Dottie. The cemetery significantly limits the number of flowers that may be included in the ceremony.