Beloved daughter, sister, aunt
Dana Bortscheller Dawkins, after having been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in early May, came to her sister’s home in Los Altos for treatment at Stanford Hospital and died peacefully on May 26. She was 52 years old.

Born November 4, 1968, Dana joined the Bortscheller family at the age of three and was a gift not only to them but also to the Niagara Avenue neighborhood where she grew up and made many friends.

She attended Our Lady of the Assumption Elementary School in Claremont, St. Lucy’s Priory High School in Glendora, and received her bachelor of arts degree in sociology from UCLA.

As an adult, jobs took her to several areas in the country until she finally called Atlanta home. She loved Atlanta and made many friends there. With her keen intellect and computer skills, she worked for C2G International, a commercial construction consulting company.

In her job, Dana analyzed construction projects on issues such as scheduling, delays, labor productivity and damages. She loved the people with whom she worked and the challenging work environment.

She was preceded in death by her brother, Mark Bortscheller, in 2011.

She is survived by her parents, Pat and Norm Bortscheller; sister, Ann Bortscheller and Ann’s husband, Bill Eliopoulos; her brother and his wife, John and Chantille Bortscheller; sister-in-law, Un Chi Bortscheller; her treasured nieces and nephews, Steven Eliopoulos, Lauren Eliopoulos and her husband, Jordan Edwards, Christina Eliopoulos, William Bortscheller and Evan Bortscheller; her former husband, Sam Dawkins; aunts, Maureen Hedgecock and Margaret Kilby; many cousins and dear friends; and her sweet dog and office mascot, Charlie.

“Dana was a ray of sunshine and a lesson in love,” her family shared. “She encouraged and inspired others and she made our lives so much more joyful. She was kind, generous, funny, empathetic, loyal, and whip-smart. We will miss her presence immensely, and are grateful to have had her as part of our family.

“At the end of our time here, the best measure of success is how much we loved and were loved, and by that measure, Dana was incredibly successful.”

A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 3 at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 435 N. Berkeley Ave., Claremont.