Dottie's Story, Part I

'More pain than anyone should have to bear'

The late Dottie West was born Dorothy Marie Marsh on October 11, 1932, near McMinnville, Tennessee. She was the oldest of 10 children born to Hollis and Pelina Marsh. Throughout much of her childhood, Dottie West would have to put up with hurt and pain that no one should EVER have to deal with. Dottie always dreamed of playing the Grand Ole Opry ever since she was a little girl. She even walked for miles and miles selling ointment for her school. She won the top prize, which was her very first guitar!

Hollis Marsh, Dottie's father, was an alcoholic who beat and abused the family on a regular basis. By the time Dottie was only a year old, he was whipping and spanking her on a regular basis. As the years went by, and more children were born, Dottie naturally became the "second mother" of the family, and she would eventually have to help feed, clothe, and raise the other kids. She would pick cotton in the fields near her home with her brothers until their fingers bled. Dottie and her siblings were treated like dirt for years. They lived in an old shack in the woods with no running water, no electricity, and lived on blackberries for meals. Her brother Kelton later said that if you got hungry, you just drank water. He said you would go to bed, and the next morning if you woke up and the hunger came back, you just drank more water...

Dottie had to save old rags and newspapers lying around the house, and stick them in the cracks of her bedroom wall, so the snow would not blow in during the winter. The poverty continued for years. Hollis repeatedly hollered, kicked, and cursed at the kids. He threw dishes around, and even ordered Dottie and her mother outside at gunpoint after an all night drinking binge. He would leave the family for hours on end. He would not work, and what little money the family did have, was spent on sugar for his illegal moonshine. The family used old tin covers off lard cans for plates, and drank out of old tin cans with the sharp edges peeled back. Hollis was more interested in a whiskey jug than providing for his family! But it wasn't until Dottie was a teenager that darkness prevailed...

Hollis began secretely molesting her. He would often call Dottie upstairs when he was repairing watches, to help look for screws that he claimed he "lost". When Dottie went upstairs to help her dad, Hollis had other things on his mind. He began raping her on a regular basis. No matter how painful the experience was for her, Hollis ordered not to make a sound...To avoid any suspicion from Pelina, Hollis would sometimes call some of Dottie's brothers to help look for the screws, but they could never find them because, of course, there weren't any screws to begin with. So Hollis kicked and cursed the boys, and told them to leave him and Dottie alone. Some weeks later, Dottie was awakened by stomach cramps. She began to suspect that she was pregnant by her own father. SHE WAS. She miscarried in the middle of the night, and barely had enough strength to make it back to her room. The next morning, Hollis shouted at Dottie to get up. Feeling tired from the episode the night before, she collapsed on the porch. The other kids yelled at Hollis to do something, so he poured a bucket of water on her, and said: "You damn little tramp, if that's how you're going to act, get back in bed". Hollis once beat Dorothy so severely, that she required hospital treatment. Unfortunately, the doctors suspected nothing out of the ordinary...The days and months went by, and Hollis grew more irritable. He was a hopeless alcoholic who would not-or probably could not- work. The horror for Dottie continued, until one day, while at school, she broke down in a flood of tears. She revealed to her principal what she had been subjected to at home for years.

Justice at last

Dottie's principal immediately called the sheriff and Dottie was placed in better care. Later that day, the sheriff returned to Dottie's home, and explained to a disbelieving Pelina the charges laid against Hollis: Rape, incest, and violating the age of consent law. Hollis had already been placed under arrest, and after several witnesses took the stand, including Dottie herself, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison, where he eventually died. The family's conditions were now changing for the better. Dottie's mother Pelina, such a good cook, opened two restaurants, and for the first time in years, things were looking up for the family. They moved into a decent apartment, and Dottie received her first real clothing too. She was even presented with her very first birthday cake at 17 years of age!

All her life, Dottie knew that music was what she wanted to do, and after graduating high school, set out to attend Tennessee Tech near Cookeville. She would major in music. From that moment on, although she didn't realize it at the time, she was on her way to the top.

While at Tennessee Tech, she met up with her first husband, Bill West. They began playing the regular party and club circuit, and they also had their first two children, Kerry and Morris.

After graduation from Tennessee Tech, Dottie and Bill moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where Bill was employed as an electrical engineer. They landed a job on the TV show, "Landmark Jamboree", which originated in Cleveland. Also in Cleveland, Shelly West, a country singer in her own right, was born.

Next: Headed for her 'mansion on the hill'