She had been suffering from emphysema for some years but was regarded as a stalwart of the local business community.
Dorothy was a past secretary of the Hayling Island Chamber of Trade, buying the island Christmas tree each year, as well as operatin
g several holiday homes and the hotel.
Her background was in tourism and, through a company called Seashell Holidays, she and her lifelong partner Tim Cornwell ran holiday homes for about 15 years at Sandy Point and Eastoke.
For four years the pair also ran the Fishery Creek Campsite.
She had lived with Mr Cornwell for 30 years but the couple never married.
They met in 1976 when she knocked on his front door because he had parked in her parking space – and their relationship developed from there.
Mr Cornwell said: "She did a lot of work for the community. She was not afraid to put her point across to Havant Borough Council and had no fear of authority.
"If something was wrong she would batter the council's doors down and if something was right she would pat it on the back."
The pair had two sons, Sam, aged 27, and Harry, aged 25.
Sam Cornwell, who is part-owner of the Portsmouth-based 19 Computing and is also a property investor, said: 'I owe a lot of my business acumen to my mum.'
The family asked for donations to go to the First Responders via Grady's funeral directors.
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