Dorothy Leah Cole was born June 14, 1894 and is found in the 1900 Federal Census of Harmar Township, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, with her father, Fred H. Cole, a bank bookkeeper, and his wife, Minnie C., both born in Pennsylvania. In 1900, Dorothy's siblings were Ruth H. and Ralph J. - Records indicate that the parents were Fred Herbert Cole and Wilhelmina Charlotta "Minnie" Garling.

In 1910, Fred Cole was a liquor merchant. Dorothy's siblings were Ruth, Ralph, Harry, Burrell, Margaret, Fred Jr., Frank, and Grace. The parents divorced after this census.

A biographical sketch of Fred H. Cole in History of Pittsburgh and Environs, published in 1922, indicates that he remarried in 1916. His mother was a daughter of Judge Abraham McCandless, a pioneer in Butler County. Fred grew up in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, and by 1920, was operating a hotel.

At the time of the 1920 census, Dorothy Cole and another nurse, Ann Murphy ("private & hospital"), were living in the home of Dorothy's uncle, Ralph Cole, and his wife, Hazel, in Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County. Another resident in the home was Kate Cole, 73, Ralph's mother, and Dorothy's grandmother. Kate - Margaret Katherine (McCandless) Cole - died in 1924.

"Dorothy Cole" is named in a 1922 history of the Pittsburgh Red Cross as a St. Francis graduate and a nurse at the University of Pittsburgh Base Hospital, No. 27. She served with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, and is named in this article: Nurses Given Great Ovation By Pittsburgh.

After the war, she was a member of the Kathryn/Catherine Mae Joyce Post 509, American Legion, named to honor the only nurse in Pittsburgh who died during service in World War I.

In 1934, Dorothy filed an Application for Compensation, related to her service in World War I.

At the time of the application, Dorothy stated her husband was Joseph John Bereznay, and they lived in Washington, D. C. They divorced, and she married Milton Roberts Westcott, a widower, in Richmond, Virginia on May 11, 1938. He was from Falls Church, Virginia, and owned a nursery business. He had three minor children - John Alfred, Marie and Mildred - and they are found with Milton and Dorothy in the 1940 census.

Dorothy's mother died March 3, 1936, her father died February 9, 1943, and her brother, Burrell B., died October 22, 1955.

Dorothy Leah Cole Westcott died November 18, 1958 and is buried at Columbia Gardens Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia. The daughters mentioned in her obit are her step-daughters. Her husband remarried and died in 1975.