A beautiful young Dorothy
On November 29, 1922 Dorothy Louise Willis was born in Brockville Ontario to Maude and Charlie Willis― after Maude spent five weeks in hospital with complications. Dorothy weighed only five pounds and had a rocky start. She had trouble nursing but couldn’t tolerate milk. Mrs. Archie Miller went to Toronto to see a Dr. Brown at the Sick Children’s hospital and learned how to make a formula he had discovered called “butter soup.” She taught Maude how to make it and Dorothy apparently thrived.
Dorothy was an only child until she was nearly six and her sister Bea was born. When Bea was a baby she got pneumonia and at one point she was so ill the doctor stayed at the house overnight. Dorothy remembered putting her favorite doll in the crib with her baby sister as a gesture of caring.
Dorothy was a feisty little girl. In grade one she defied her teacher and as a result, got the strap – one stroke on each hand. She didn’t plan to tell her mother but one of her friends told on her.
Her grade two teacher, Miss Annie Davis, was a friend of Maude’s. Annie was afraid that Dorothy would take advantage of their friendship so she was harder on her than the other children. One day a kid pushed Dorothy and caused her to stumble and push the girl ahead of her in line. That girl told Miss Davis that Dorothy had punched her in the stomach. Annie grabbed Dorothy and shook her so hard that she wet her pants – adding insult to injury. Miss Davis later said she was sorry.
Once Dorothy climbed a tree in front of the O’Grady house but the boys removed the old door they’d used as a ladder to get into the tree. She was left stranded and her Dad had to come and rescue her. He was not amused.
Dorothy’s parents set high standards for her and they always expected her to be first or second on the honor role. If she entered an art contest or an essay competition, she was expected to win. She was bright and a good student so fortunately it wasn’t that difficult for her.
The house on Keefer Street that Dorothy grew up in was named Mapledean. Dorothy had the bright bedroom with rose wallpaper at the front of the house and a big brass bed. She had a dresser, a small table and a small rocking chair. Her chore was to dust her room and the stairs on the weekend.
Her family didn’t have much money. Her mother only had a new dress every few years, and a new coat was a major investment. Yet somehow Maude and the girls always looked nice. Dorothy always had black patent shoes for Easter and new brown oxfords for school in the fall. When Dorothy joined Brownies her mother made her uniform and knit her sweater. Dorothy would have preferred an official uniform. Dorothy’s first bike was a second hand one with a wooden wheel. She was so ashamed of it – she wanted a new CCM.
Christmas was a favorite time for Dorothy. They didn’t have a fireplace when she was little so they’d open the oven door of the wood stove and call up the stove pipes to Santa. Just before Christmas farmers would load up their sleighs with Christmas trees and come into town to sell the trees door to door. Dorothy loved the smell of the Christmas tree in the house. One year when she was naughty, one of her presents – a doll, disappeared. She tried to be good after that and one night the doll reappeared just inside the front door.
Dorothy took piano lessons – they cost $1 per lesson which was a lot of money in those days. She wanted to play the popular music but her teacher, being a graduate of the McGill Conservatory wanted to ground her with theory. At first she practiced on a neighbor’s piano until her parents were able to buy one.
Dorothy continued to be a good student in high school but she found Physics and Chemistry demanding.
Dorothy had several good girl friends in high school but her best friend was Frances Hudson who lived in the country. Frances loved to stay in town, and Dorothy loved to stay at the farm so it was a good mix. She and her friends went to shows, swam in the St. Lawrence River, rode their bikes, and skated in the winter.
Dorothy could sometimes be impetuous. One day she was painting a table, got a call and left the table half painted. Her father was annoyed. Another time she was cutting the lawn and got bored so she started to cut the Union Jack into it. When she was partly done, she headed downtown, leaving the lawn a mess.
Dorothy graduated with the marks to qualify for university entrance but her father had a different idea. She was to go to Secretarial School. She said there was never any discussion. Looking back, she wondered why her parents wanted her to do her senior matriculation if they never intended that she go to university. After Secretarial School Dorothy settled into her work – but at that time she wasn’t really interested in a career. She only wanted to have fun and earn some money. Life was an adventure and she knew that her Prince Charming was just around the corner.
World War II was declared and the streets of Brockville will full of soldiers. The local girls would go to dances on Saturday nights as hostesses. The soldiers were always looking for dates. Dorothy met one chap she really liked, but six weeks later learned he was married. Between 1942 – 43 she had several boyfriends, but nothing really serious.
On April 10, 1943 the Anglican Minister’s wife was organizing the hostesses for that Saturday night dance. She called to see if Dorothy could fill in. Dorothy was at work until 9 but her mother called her at work and she said she’d go.
The same day, a friend of Dag Davidge’s asked him if he’d go in his place to the dance as he wanted to wait until his girlfriend came to town.
Dag and Dorothy met at the dance, had a few dances and then left to go downtown to the New York Café for grilled cheese and coffee. After, he walked her home. It was only later she learned he only had enough money for the refreshments – but not enough for a taxi so he had a long walk back to the base.
She fell for him hard. And thus started a lifelong relationship.
On Christmas Eve, 1943 Dorothy and Dag went skating. She could feel a lump in his pocket and thought it was his pipe. It was a box containing an engagement ring and that night he asked Dorothy to marry him.
The following May, Dag learned that he would be leaving for Australia – and he wanted to marry Dorothy before he left. Her parents had a fit but their good friends told them to support the marriage because Dorothy would never forgive them if something happed to Dag in Australia. They only had a few days to get ready before they were married on May 30. They had an announcement in the Brockville Recorder and Times and printed invitations, Maude made the cake and had it iced at the bakery. Charlie repapered the dining room, and Maude and friends catered the reception which was held in their home. Bea and her friends were the servers. Mrs. Dallyn played the organ and Mrs. Gill sang. Dorothy wore a short blue dress with a blue flowered tulle hat and carried a nosegay. It was a dry wedding.
They honeymooned at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto for five days. Then they had just a few short weeks before he left.
Dorothy continued to work at the Bell and lived at home. One day, while walking through the park on her way to work, she thought “What have I done” I’m neither fish nor fowl. I am married and but don’t have a husband.” Her friends were dating and having fun. She found some other girls who had married soldiers and were waiting out the war and got together with them. And she lived for the letters from Dag.
After almost two years, she got a cable saying he was coming home at last. She had to arrange time off work and take a train to Kingston to meet him. When she first saw Dag on the platform he was a stranger. They went to their hotel where had had arranged roses to be delivered to the room and it turned out to be a wonderful reunion. They had a second honeymoon in Toronto for a few days.
Dag registered at Queens and they spent three years in Kingston supported by his student veteran pension and Dorothy worked. Those were happy times. Dorothy joined the student wives club, attended lectures, played on the volleyball team and had wonderful outings on the St. Laurence River. Young couples would get together and talk about their dreams and with one couple they together, over a shared bottle of rye, designed a little house.
One of life’s “no nos” is for a husband or wife to teach the other to drive. Dag taught Dorothy on the back roads behind Kingston, in a standard shift 1937 Plymouth (with a 47 motor) that cost $750. One day they came to a gravel hill. Dorothy put on the brakes too hard and they went down the hill sideways. At the bottom she got out and in tears, refused to drive further. Dag made her get back in and drive.
Dorothy and Dag moved to Ottawa in 1950. Dorothy was expecting and they bought a little house on Doane Ave. Robert Owen Charles arrived on March 28, 1950. In 1952, instead of buying furniture, which they needed, they bought their first sailboat, Gypsy I. They had joined the Britannia Yacht club and had many happy times sailing.
Two months after Sandra Lee was born on November 28, 1953 the family moved to their new home on Angel Avenue in Montreal. They bought their first TV at this time, to entertain Rob while Dorothy was looking after baby Sandy.
Dorothy said her most traumatic experience was in 1954 when she fell on a damp grassy incline. She was carrying 8 month old Sandy and when she fell, she lost hold of the baby. They took the baby to the doctor who sent them to the Montreal Children’s hospital. At first the hospital suspected abuse and questioned and questioned Dorothy. Sandy’s leg was broken between the knee and the hip and she was put in traction on a frame with her legs bound. She was in hospital for a week and then in traction at home for several more. Dorothy blamed herself and felt terribly guilty.
In 1960 Dorothy’s father suffered a heart attack, his second, and passed away at the age of 69.
Overall, the years on Angel Avenue were the happiest years of Dorothy’s life. Dorothy raised her family, enjoyed her neighborhood, had a wide circle of friends, and eventually got involved in the Guiding movement where she not only was Brown Owl for a Brownie pack but led numerous camps and music camps. She sang in the church choir, played in a bridge club, and the family enjoyed camping trips that included crossing the country several times. Their boat was moored in the bay at the foot of the street. Along the way, they upgraded to Gypsy II, keeping Gypsy I for Rob.
At one point Rob and his friend Ian Dutton started building rockets. They launched them from the backyard at 96 Angel. A lot of them landed on the corrugated plastic roof over Dorothy’s patio and burned holes in it. When they started landing on the properties the next street over, Dag and Dorothy put a stop to the rocket launching.
In 1965 the family moved back to Ottawa. Although they built a beautiful new home, Dorothy hated leaving her life in Beaurepaire. And she started to have some health problems with her blood pressure and her heart.
In October 1967, Dorothy went into hospital for some tests and ended up staying for seven weeks. She spent a month in bed a home and finally Dr. Berkman at the Civic Hospital told her to go out and live. He didn’t know what had happened, thought it was probably a virus in her heart. It took her a long time to get her confidence back.
It was after this that Dorothy took up downhill skiing. She would go on ladies day with several other women from the neighborhood. She also started taking art lessons (although she’d always enjoyed painting).
In January 1968 Dorothy took the training and joined Revenue Canada – the first time she’d worked since Dag finished university almost 20 years earlier. In June 1969 she started work for the Privy Council Office for a section that later formed the new Ministry of State for Science and Technology. Eventually she got a job back in the Privy Council office at Security and Intelligence.
In 1970 Dag and Dorothy bought Gypsy III, a 28 foot with standing headroom that felt positively luxurious compared to its predecessors.
During their years in Ottawa, Dorothy started to see the world, with trips to Cuba, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Greece and more. They started taking a trip every year.
In April 1983, Dag and Dorothy fulfilled a dream and bought Davalon – 150 acres and an old stone farmhouse dating from the mid 1800s. They commuted to and from Ottawa for almost two years before they retired in 1985. Their biggest challenge there was the makeover of the house.
The years at Davalon were also happy. By then they had grandchildren who loved to visit Davalon– Kari, Jesse, Matthew, Geneva, and Andrea. They traveled. They made wine. They drank wine. Life was good. They took in Shakespeare at Stratford. Winters they escaped to Florida with their 5th wheel trailer.
Then 1992, Dorothy lost the love of her life, when Dag passed away at Davalon on September 15. Two months plus a day later, her mother Maude passed away, leaving Dorothy feeling very much alone.
She stayed at Davalon for almost ten years and in fall 2001 she moved to an apartment in Smiths Falls. Her life was busy with the church – she was on the board of management, the membership committee, the ladies auxiliary, and sang in the choir. She played the piano at the “old folk’s homes” and she taught knitting to children at the elementary school. A life long reader, she joined a book club and read voraciously.
But her health continued to decline over the years and life got harder and harder. In July 2008 she moved to Alberta to live with Sandra.
In her own words, Dorothy summed up her life as “ a rather jam packed life thanks to a very adventurous husband who dragged me along, sometimes complaining, but I wouldn’t have missed all the experiences we had for anything.”
Dorothy passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 27, 2009.
by Stanley Coren. It’s an interesting book for any dog lover.
