Dorothy Elizabeth Westmore

Dorothy was very pleased to have reached 100, and celebrated her birthday in style last September. She was a woman ahead of her time: smart, practical, and adventurous, full of zest and always ready to get up and go, right to the end of her life. Being with her always left you feeling happy! There was always a warm welcome in her home, as she was a generous host and loyal friend to colleagues and friends, many of whom became close for over 50 years.

In latter years she loved to reminisce about her childhood in England, which she shared with her younger sister Joy, and her older brother Arthur. Her memories included sipping cider directly from the apple presses in Somerset, and walking home from school along the sandy beaches of Burnham-On-Sea. According to Arthur, she played a wicked left wing at field hockey. Her father was a school principal and her mother a teacher who after her husband’s death when Dorothy was 12, also became a school head, moving to Maidenhead.

After completing school, Dorothy worked at Horlicks and met her future husband Bob (who served in Northern Ireland during the War) on the field hockey pitch where he was refereeing. After the war they felt England lacked opportunity and emigrated to Canada in search of a better life. Dorothy’s mother Elizabeth soon followed and lived with them most of her life.

Dorothy and Bob became good friends with other families who had also immigrated from the UK and Europe, and they enjoyed a rich social life wherever they lived. In Toronto in the 70’s Dorothy and her niece Gill opened a mod clothing boutique and later in Hamilton she worked at the Bank of Montreal, and the MacMaster library. After retirement they bought a home in Florida for the winter where the whole family and visitors could enjoy the sun and sea.

Travel was a highlight of life for Dorothy. She was thrilled to visit her daughter Geraldine and her husband Jack when they lived in Paris and New Orleans. And thanks to Bob’s passion for birdwatching, they travelled widely after retirement to Costa Rica and Australia. The highlight was a round-the-world trip for their 50th wedding anniversary. There were always adventures, whether getting locked into a sewage lagoon while birdwatching, or flying in a hot air balloon.

Dorothy was fiercely independent, never complained and stayed resilient when life brought difficulties. She was stoic through the last year of the pandemic, though she shared the tragedy of not being able to see Geraldine and Thea because of the closed border. She enjoyed the daily crossword puzzle and 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles, chatting on the phone and the evening’s glass of sherry. She was well looked after in her independent living apartment at Shalom Village, and seemed to have come through very well so it was such a sad shock when suddenly she passed away. We will mourn her and miss her terribly but remember her indomitable spirit, and keep to her motto of “press on” while looking forward to a time when we can share in a celebration of Dorothy’s life in person together.

Lovingly, daughter: Geraldine Duskin (Richmond, Virginia), granddaughter: Dorothea Duskin (Buffalo, NY), sister-in-law: Sarah Lowe, niece: Gillian Davis and family.