Dorothy Wanetta Babcock was born in Fort William, Ontario, on December 31, 1924 to Wilf and Hazel Rutherford. She was their oldest daughter and sister to Peter, Bob, Lyndell, Mary and Helen. Dorothy was an exemplary role model to her siblings and was the female trail blazer of the family. She graduated from nursing in 1946 and received many honours and awards over the course of her career including the Woman of Distinction in Kamloops.
During her 36 year nursing vocation she was a teacher and pioneer for the advancement of women in the health industry. She was the first female administrator and supervised the 198 bed Banfield Pavilion facility. She was a huge advocate for the dignity, care and quality of life for geriatric patients in that centre at Vancouver General Hospital.
She had a lust for life and adventure. She worked at Bralorne at the Pioneer Mining Camp where she met John over dinner and a laugh about peas rolling around on her plate. From there it was marriage and a move to Silver City, New Mexico for work and the expansion of the family which included Lyndell Olivia, Edward Carlton, Rebecca Jane and Lourine Wanetta. After a few years there, the family moved to Alaska then finally settled in Vancouver where they raised their children and worked until retirement.
After sailing around the waters of Vancouver Island for relaxation and a hobby, Dorothy and John decided to expand their horizons and sailed the South Pacific, Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea for eight years in a 40 foot sloop before returning to Canada. They settled in Kamloops where they lived for the past 24 years. During that time Dorothy worked at the BC Cancer Society – Screening Mammography Program and worked diligently to get the mobile unit to fruition and volunteered at the Farmers Market over the summer months.
Dorothy was a hard-working, dedicated, strong willed, vibrant, energetic and caring person. She had a great sense of community, a good sense of humour, old fashioned values and morals, and appreciated the outdoors and all its wonders. She tackled life with determination, fortitude and fearlessness and was a strong role model for her children.
Dorothy was delivered by a doctor who was called away from a New Year’s Eve Party dressed in a top hat, tux and tails and passed away on October 31 with fireworks!
Our mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, great grandmother and friend will be dearly missed but we take comfort in the fact that mom and her “Cap’n John” can sail the cosmos together now!
We would like to give our sincerest appreciation to all the staff at Orchard Grove at the Overlander Care Facility. The care and compassion you gave to our mother will never be forgotten.
“The Death of a Mother is the first sorrow wept without her.” – Author Unknown